Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League, slammed Kamala Harris' silence in what he called an anti-Semitic smear campaign against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
“No one from the White House condemned the anti-Semitic smear campaign against Governor Shapiro. No one from the campaign condemned the anti-Semitic smear campaign against Governor Shapiro. No one from the DNC “I did not condemn the anti-Semitic smear campaign against Governor Shapiro,” Greenblatt said in a wide-ranging interview with the Post this week.
He called the episode “disgraceful.”
Although Mr. Shapiro held much the same views on Israel as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other leading Democratic candidates, Israel-hating progressives launched a ferocious campaign to destroy Mr. Shapiro.
Mr. Shapiro, the popular Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, a state Harris should win, was widely seen as the man Republicans fear most.
But after he was vilified and belittled, Greenblatt warned that Jewish Americans, a long-time reliable Democratic voting base, would be challenged in the election.
“I think there are Jews in this moment… They feel the ground moving beneath their feet,” he says.
The ADL boss also took a jab at “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who he said was not a useful partner in the fight against anti-Semitism. Greenblatt suggested he should be more like Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres.
“Richie Torres repeatedly sat down with Jewish college students. Richie Torres went to Colombia… Did AOC do it?” he said.
The two Poles have been in a public spat over X for several days over AOC's defense of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people.
Sitting in ADL's Midtown office, Greenblatt reiterated that he remains committed to a two-state solution, but acknowledged that it is becoming increasingly difficult to see what that would look like. .
The head of the ADL warned that the expansion of Islamic extremism in the United States is a serious problem.
A poll last year found that 57% of American Muslims believe Hamas' October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians was “justified.”
“We do have a problem with Islamic extremism,” Greenblatt said. “You know, for example, over the past six months, we've seen a lot of Hamas flags and Hezbollah flags being flown. When I was in D.C. for Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech, at Union Station, I saw an ISIS flag flying out front.”
The ADL has long been committed to refugee rights in the United States and has supported generous admissions policies for immigrants and newcomers, but Greenblatt said additional testing for Muslims should be considered. .
“I'm the grandson of a refugee, I'm the husband of a refugee, and this organization is committed to fighting for immigrants and for refugees. But that doesn't mean we can't be incredibly careful. That doesn't mean you don't have to vet or be super.'' You might want to be smart about who you let in and assess what the appropriate criteria should be. ”
