Elon Musk, the owner of X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter), is threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for “roughly $22 billion”, claiming that the Jewish organization caused a 60% drop in advertising sales by scaring off advertisers with false claims that Musk and the platform were antisemitic. The controversy has brought forth hordes of critics who claim that the organization has abandoned its mandate to fight Jew hatred in order to become a platform for the Democratic party and liberal agendas.

“To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!” he said.“Based on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss,” Musk wrote.

Musk claims he has documented proof, saying that the “document discovery of all communications between The ADL and advertisers will tell the full story.”

The ADL responded by turning the accusation back on Musk, claiming his accusations of their financial attacks were based on antisemitism.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch right-wing pundit and activist, noted on X that #BanTheADL was trending.

“The fact that #BanTheADL is trending shows how done people are with the ‘we’re labeling everything we don’t like as hateful/racist/dangerous/far-right’ BS,” she wrote. “People aren’t afraid of your intimidation tactics anymore, @JGreenblattADL. Your labels have lost their power.”

Musk commented, “Perhaps we should run a poll on this?”, drawing attention to the hashtag. 

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt issued the following statement today, claiming that objections to his organization’s efforts to silence Twitter were based in antisemitism.:

“It is profoundly disturbing that Elon Musk spent the weekend engaging with a highly toxic, antisemitic campaign on his platform — a campaign started by an unrepentant bigot that then was heavily promoted by individuals such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes, Christian nationalist Andrew Torba, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and others. Finally, we saw the campaign manifest in the real world when masked men marched in Florida on Saturday, brazenly waving flags adorned with swastikas and chanting ‘Ban the ADL.’

“But to be clear, the real issue is neither ADL nor the threat of a frivolous lawsuit. This urgent matter is the safety of the Jewish people in the face of increasing, intensifying antisemitism. Musk is engaging with and elevating these antisemites at a time when ADL is tracking a surge of bomb threats and swatting attacks of synagogues and Jewish institutions, dramatic levels of antisemitic propaganda being littered throughout Jewish and non-Jewish residential communities, and extremists marching openly through the streets in Nazi gear.  All of this is happening in a context of the highest number of antisemitic incidents that ADL has tracked in more than 40 years — and just two weeks away from the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

“And so, this behavior is not just alarming nor reckless. It is flat-out dangerous and deeply irresponsible. We need responsible leaders to lead, to stop inflaming hatred, and to step back from the brink before it’s too late.”

Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, head of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, published an op-ed on the issue, noting that “ever since Greenblatt assumed leadership of the ADL, he has turned the organization into a partisan organ devoted to crushing political conservatives and promoting the most left-wing and progressive causes”.

“We should note that the ADL’s role in online censorship of speech is nothing new,” Wolicki wrote. “None of this would be concerning if it were true that the ADL was devoted to monitoring and combatting actual anti-semitism.”

Rabbi Wolicki noted that this was most distressing to Orthodox Jews who are predominantly politically and socially conservative.

“Whether we are talking about the gender / trans issue, BLM, freedom of speech, and even support for the Israeli government, Orthodox Jews are far more aligned with conservative Christians on the Right than we are with liberal Jews,” Rabbi Wolicki wrote. “By pushing a progressive Liberal agenda, establishment Jewish organizations like the ADL have put the Jewish community in a precarious position.”

“Is the Jewish community the enemy of traditional values?” he asked. “Thanks to Jews like Greenblatt, it sure looks like it.”

Rabbi Wolicki suggested a solution.

“It’s time for Orthodox Jews to correct this state of affairs by declaring loudly and clearly that groups like the ADL and Jews like Soros, Levine, and Schiff do not represent us. We must make it clear that we want nothing to do with their agenda, that we, alongside our Christian allies, are fighting them every step of the way.”

“What concerned me as I scrolled through my feed this morning was the number of posts gaining traction that, in calling out the ADL’s censorious activities, slid into overt anti-semitism. Part of what pained me when I saw these posts was that I agree with the antipathy that the posters feel towards the ADL. As a politically conservative Orthodox Jew who espouses and lives according to traditional Biblical values, I view the ADL as an arm of my cultural and political enemies.”

Jonathan Tobin, editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate), is a long-time critic of Greenblatt, describing him as  “a veteran Democratic Party operative with no experience working in the field”.

Musk and the ADL have clashed in the past, most recently in May when the head of X compared billionaire George Soros to the X-Men supervillain Magneto by claiming that Soros “hates humanity.”Soros has advanced left wing extremist political agendas through his multi-billion dollar Open Society Foundations. Greenblatt responded by accusing Musk of being antisemitic for criticizing Soros.

The ADL was established in 1913 with the purpose of battling antisemitism. Its charter states:

“The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.”

In 2014, Jonathan Greenblatt was appointed as the ADL’s national director. Greenblatt has a history of being associated with the political left. Prior to heading the ADL, Greenblatt served in the White House as Special Assistant to Barack Obama. Greenblatt has been accused of turning the organization into a mouthpiece for the Democratic party and adopting liberal agendas that contradict Jewish values.

 The organization has nonetheless been rejected by liberal organizations. In August 2020, a coalition of progressive organizations launched the “Drop the ADL” campaign, arguing that “the ADL is not an ally” in social justice work. The campaign consisted of an open letter and a website, which were shared on social media with the hashtag “#DropTheADL”. Notable signatories included the Democratic Socialists of America, Movement for Black Lives, Jewish Voice for Peace, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Council on American–Islamic Relations. The open letter stated that the ADL “has a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, queer people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups, while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, and perpetrators of state violence.