2026-05-31 11:55:PM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #LeftwingJewry #people #KeyPeople ![[image-287.png|509]] # Abraham Foxman (1940-2026) - Abraham Foxman, (born Avraham Chanoch Hanach Fuksman) was a highly influential American Jewish communal leader, most well known for his tenure as national director of the [[ADL]] from 1987-2015.[^1] - Foxman, whose public ADL biography describes him as "world-renowned as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination," is among the most public and well known Jewish organizational leaders of all time.[^5] #### Background - Foxman was famously saved from the holocaust by his Catholic nanny.[^5] - Much of Foxman's extended family reportedly perished in the holocaust. Foxman's parents survived and shortly after the war they immigrated to the United States. - Prior to WWII, Foxman says his parents were "involved in Zionist circles" in Warsaw, Poland.[^12] - According to Foxman, his father, a dedicated early Zionist, wished to relocate to Israel after WWII but his mother preferred the United States. - After his father's death, Foxman says his mother's first reaction was "let's take him to Israel for burial." - After immigrating to the United States in 1950, Foxman undertook significant schooling including:[^5] - Yeshiva of Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY; - City College of New York - Bachelors in political science; - NYU School of Law - Juris Doctor; - [[Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)]] - Advanced Judaic studies; - The New School for Social Research - International economics #### Foxman as ADL Frontman - In 1965, Foxman was hired as a legal assistant by the [[ADL]]'s top lawyer, [[Arnold Forster]].[^1][^3] - Foxman began work in the ADL's international affairs division. - Foxman became national director of the [[ADL]] in 1987. - His tenure saw the ADL expand from a largely single issue anti-antisemitism and antisemitic extremism organization into an international left wing advocacy group focused on antisemitism, holocaust denial and reembrace, extremism, religious freedom, human rights, white supremacy, and general discrimination.[^11] - In 1987, the same year he became national director of the [[ADL]], President Ronald Reagan appointed Foxman to the council of the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)]].[^1] - Foxman was subsequently reappointed by presidents [[George W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], and Joe Biden. - Foxman was eulogized by the USHMM upon his death as a "special friend."[^2] - Foxman explained why he chooses to fight what he perceives as antisemitic speech: "The gas chambers in Auschwitz did not begin with bricks; they began with words, with ugly words. Because there was no one who stood up and said, ‘Don’t say that!’ I will not be silent."[^6] *American Jewry, acting through groups like the ADL, operate with this core belief: if not for our collective action there would be another holocaust. This drives their incessant fervor around antisemitism both as a true belief and as a pressure point for political power.* - The ADL under Foxman worked closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement on antisemitism and hate crime training, informational briefings, and interactive workshops. - Foxman was an ardent advocate for [[Marc Rich]], the fugitive Jewish American oil trader and Israeli intelligence asset who hid from American law enforcement in Switzerland for 17 years.[^16] - Foxman was among a cohort of prominent Jewish and Israeli figures who lobbied President [[Bill Clinton]] for Rich's pardon, an ultimately successful effort when Clinton pardoned Rich on his last day in office. - According to a 2001 [article](https://web.archive.org/web/20250707063916/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/opinion/essay-the-adl-and-rich.html) in the *New York Times* written by Jewish neoconservative William Safire, Foxman "met in Paris with a former [[Mossad]] agent now on the Rich Foundation payroll who had the month before pledged $100,000 to A.D.L. Foxman came up with the idea of asking Denise Rich, the divorced wife of the man on the lam for 17 years, to intercede with Clinton for a pardon."[^16] *The Mossad agent working for Rich was almost certainly [[Avner Azulay]].* - Foxman admitted his advocacy for Rich's pardon "was not directly in the ADL's clear-cut mission."[^16] - According to the *NYT* article mentioned above, the last time Foxman deviated from the ADL's mission was his advocacy for the release of Jewish spy for Israel, [[Jonathan Pollard]]. - Foxman was a close ally and advocate for [[Natan Sharansky]].[^12] - Sharansky is a Russian-born refusenik (Soviet Jews wishing to leave Russia) who eventually immigrated to Israel and became an influential politician. - Foxman met with Sharansky while he was in Russia prior to his 1973 arrest. - Shortly after his 1986 release from prison, Foxman met with Sharansky in Israel. - Foxman, as director of the ADL, knew and coordinated with many Israeli politicians personally including: - [[Yitzhak Rabin]][^12] - [[Ariel Sharon]] - In the 1990s Sharon was Israel's foreign minister and considered a global pariah for his role in the [[1982 Lebanon War]]. During those years Foxman personally met with and received a security briefing from Sharon in Israel. Foxman became an unofficial ambassador for Sharon's political career upon his return to the United States. [^14] - [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] - Upon his retirement from the ADL in 2015, Netanyahu praised Foxman: "Abe, you are one of Israel’s staunchest defenders, and your contribution to the Jewish people and the State of Israel has been immeasurable. I thank you for your friendship and solidarity." [^14] [^15] - The ADL under Foxman endorsed the 2003 [[Iraq War]].[^17] - In late 2007, after the War was starting to be considered a disastrous mistake, Foxman doubled down saying, "I think we were pleased, pleased that there is no Saddam Hussein who was sending checks to suicide bombers, who politically, if not militarily, was supporting the worst in the Palestinian movement. But we were not out in front." *Foxman's reason for supporting the Iraq War was his belief that it would be better for Israel (less support for the "worst" in the Palestinian movement).* - After justifying his support for the [[Iraq War]], Foxman pivoted to Iran stating, "Iran was the much greater concern to Israel. Iraq was not an existential threat to Israel. Iran is an existential threat... We didn’t speak up on Iraq because it really wasn’t our issue. But they’re trying to put the blame on us, which I think is very detrimental because I worry that the Jewish community will now be hesitant to speak out where it is imperative that we speak out. Yes, Iran is a threat to the globe. Yes, Iran is a threat to the Gulf. Yes, Iran is a threat to Europe. But first and foremost that mamzer [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] says, “I will destroy the State of Israel, I will wipe the Jewish state off of the face of the map.”"[^17] *Foxman, an American communal leader, only sees himself as a Jew. He sees himself as a member of the global Jewish nation, which imbues him with an implicit obligation to be loyal to the Jewish state of Israel. This is clear in every word he ever spoke, this passage being a useful example.* - Following the release of Mel Gibson's *The Passion of the Christ* (2004), Foxman published an article titled "'Passion' Relies on Theme of Antisemitism."[^18] - After attending an emotional screening of the film amidst thousands of Christian leaders, Foxman wrote, "We were among those gathered in that audience, but as Jews familiar with the long and painful history of Passion Plays over nearly 2,000 years of persecution and pogroms against our people, our reactions to the film differed considerably. Our reactions were tinged with feelings of anger, disappointment and pain." - Foxman concluded: "Our concern is that The Passion of The Christ could fuel the latent anti-Semitism that exists in the hearts of those people who hold Jews responsible for the death of Jesus, which always has been the source of Western anti-Semitism." *Working this statement backwards we see Foxman say that "the West," i.e., white Christian people and our countries, are afflicted with "latent antisemitism" that exists in our hearts.* - Around 2010, Foxman became a personal associate of [[Fox News]] founder and head of the [[News Corp]] media empire, [[Rupert Murdoch]].[^8][^10] - Foxman reportedly met Murdoch at Golden Door, a highly exclusive California spa which Foxman frequented on ADL donor money for ~$9000 a week. - The ADL under Foxman presented Murdoch with its "International Leadership Award" in 2010 for his "stalwart support of Israel and his commitment to promoting respect and speaking out against anti-Semitism."[^9] - In 2021, Foxman reaffirmed his support for awarding Murdoch telling the *[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]* "I’m proud that I gave it to him then and I would give it to him again today."[^9] - In 2014, Foxman argued in favor of admitting [[J Street]], a left wing Zionist-critical Jewish organization, into the [[Conference of Presidents]]. - This was highly controversial and J Street was ultimately rejected from joining the conference because of its more dovish position on Israel. - In 2015, Foxman stepped down as national director of the ADL. He was replaced by [[Jonathan Greenblatt]]. #### Politics and Other Activity - In 2013, Foxman was awarded the Begin Prize from Israel's [[Menachem Begin]] Heritage Foundation.[^5] - After not engaging in partisan political endorsements for his entire career, Foxman endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020 with an article in *The Times of Israel* titled "Trump is bad for America and bad for the Jews."[^7] - Foxman writes in his endorsement of Biden, "When our democracy is weakened, and when nativism is stoked, the rights of Jews and other minorities will be diminished too. It may not happen overnight, but it _will_ happen, and Jews know this well from bitter experience." #RedPill *Jews, as the ultimate outcasts and outsiders, have a deeply ingrained aversion to nativism and nationalism. Foxman plainly states that Jews as a people oppose nativism and support an empowered patchwork of minorities from collective Jewish experience.* - Foxman continues his rebuke of Trump, "He [Trump] and his administration dehumanize immigrants, demonize the most vulnerable, and undermine the civility and enlightened political culture that have allowed Jews to achieve what no Diaspora community outside Israel can claim in two millennia...Defending immigrants and refugees is an inseparable part of our collective story." *Notice again how Foxman invokes the importance of immigration to Jewish political and social success.* - Foxman was an advisory committee member of Rutgers University's Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience.[^22] - Foxman is described as "one of the first Advisory Committee members." - The Miller Center and the ADL are two of the four partner organizations of the [[Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI)]]. - Upon his death in May 2026, Foxman was eulogized by many Jewish figures and organizations including: - [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)]][^2] - [[Steven Spielberg]]'s [[USC Shoah Foundation]][^11] - In 2005, the ADL under Foxman partnered with the USC Shoah Foundation and Yad Vashem, Israel's holocaust memorial institution, to create the Echoes and Reflections program (ERP). The ERP has brought holocaust training over 175,000 teachers, in over 25,000 schools from every state in the country.[^13] - David Makovsky, a fellow at the [[Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP)]] and lifetime member of the [[Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)]], described Foxman as "the embodiment of the Jewish people" upon his death.[^14] - The [[UJA-Federation of New York]] eulogized Foxman as a "towering voice in the fight against antisemitism and all forms of hate."[^19] - The [[March of the Living]] eulogized Foxman stating: "It is up to each one of us to carry on his legacy of standing up for the Jewish people and Israel, combatting Holocaust denial, and fighting antisemitism and all forms of hatred and bigotry."[^20] - The [[Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)]] eulogized Foxman as an "omnipresent voice on virtually every important Jewish communal debate not only about antisemitism but also as a passionate advocate for the security and well-being of Israel and for the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, as well as for Jewish moral imperatives drawn from Jewish history and tradition." - Many prominent Jewish figures attended Foxman's funeral including:[^21] - Israeli president [[Isaac Herzog]] provided a video eulogy for Foxman's funeral.[^21] - [[Alan Dershowitz]] - [[Robert Kraft]] - Sarah Bloomfield - Director of the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)]] #### Books Authored by Foxman - Foxman's 2003 *Never Again? The Threat of [[New-antisemitism|New Antisemitism]]*, serves as his first of four major titles.[^4] - The forward to *Never Again?* was written by well known holocaust-activist [[Elie Wiesel]]. - Foxman's second book, published in 2007, is titled *The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control*. - The book was written as a direct response to *The Israel Lobby* by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.[^17] - In an interview with the *[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]*, Foxman explained why he wrote the book: "When Mearsheimer and Walt’s article appeared, what I was very much concerned about was that it would give this whole issue of Jewish power, Jewish control, Jewish influence, Israel lobby, etc., a sense of credibility that it has never had in the U.S., except for maybe before World War II." #### References [^1]: “Abraham Foxman,” _Wikipedia_, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Foxman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Foxman). [^2]: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Abraham Foxman (1940–2026),” _In Memoriam_, [https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/in-memoriam/abraham-foxman-1940-2026](https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/in-memoriam/abraham-foxman-1940-2026). [^3]: Margalit Fox, “Arnold Forster, Who Fought Anti-Semitism With B’nai B’rith, Is Dead at 97,” _New York Times_, March 26, 2010, *Internet Archive*, [https://web.archive.org/web/20240823095123/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/us/27forster.html](https://web.archive.org/web/20240823095123/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/us/27forster.html). [^4]: Abraham H. Foxman, _Never Again?: The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism_ (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), _Internet Archive_, [https://archive.org/details/neveragainthreat0000foxm](https://archive.org/details/neveragainthreat0000foxm). [^5]: Anti-Defamation League, “Abraham H. Foxman,” [https://www.adl.org/resources/news/abraham-h-foxman](https://www.adl.org/resources/news/abraham-h-foxman). [^6]: Uriel Heilman, “Abe Foxman Looks Back at Changing — and Declining — Face of Anti-Semitism,” _The Forward_, February 19, 2014, [https://forward.com/news/193011/abe-foxman-looks-back-at-changing-and-declining/](https://forward.com/news/193011/abe-foxman-looks-back-at-changing-and-declining/). [^7]: Abraham H. Foxman, “Trump Is Bad for America and Bad for the Jews,” _The Times of Israel Blogs_, September 11, 2020, [https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/american-jewrys-fateful-choice/](https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/american-jewrys-fateful-choice/). [^8]: Larry Cohler-Esses, “How Abe (Foxman) Bonded With Rupert (Murdoch) — at a $8,850-a-Week California Spa,” _The Forward_, December 6, 2016, [https://forward.com/news/356191/how-abe-foxman-bonded-with-rupert-murdoch-at-a-8-850-a-week-california-spa/](https://forward.com/news/356191/how-abe-foxman-bonded-with-rupert-murdoch-at-a-8-850-a-week-california-spa/) [^9]: Ben Sales, “Former ADL Chief Abe Foxman Says He’d Honor Fox’s Rupert Murdoch ‘Again Today,’” _The Times of Israel_, April 14, 2021, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-adl-chief-abe-foxman-says-hed-honor-foxs-rupert-murdoch-again-today/](https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-adl-chief-abe-foxman-says-hed-honor-foxs-rupert-murdoch-again-today/). [^10]: Arno Rosenfeld, “Abe Foxman Built the Jewish Establishment. He Died Troubled by What It Had Become,” _The Forward_, May 11, 2026, [https://forward.com/news/antisemitism-decoded/824344/abe-foxman-anti-defamation-league-fox-news-trump/](https://forward.com/news/antisemitism-decoded/824344/abe-foxman-anti-defamation-league-fox-news-trump/\). [^11]: USC Shoah Foundation, “Abraham H. Foxman, Holocaust Survivor and Defining Voice Against Antisemitism,” May 12, 2026, [https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2026/05/37866-abraham-h-foxman-holocaust-survivor-and-defining-voice-against-antisemitism](https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2026/05/37866-abraham-h-foxman-holocaust-survivor-and-defining-voice-against-antisemitism). [^12]: Abraham H. Foxman, testimony interview no. 41475, March 27, 1998, _USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive_, [https://vha.usc.edu/testimony/41475](https://vha.usc.edu/testimony/41475). *The part where Foxman speaks on his parents and burying his father in Israel begins around the 8 minute mark. Around 23:00 he speaks about his relations with Yitzhak Rabin. Around 23:20 he talks about his relations with Natan Sharansky.* [^13]: Echoes & Reflections, “About,” [https://echoesandreflections.org/about/](https://echoesandreflections.org/about/). [^14]: 1. Hillel Kuttler, “Abe Foxman: A Life Fighting Hate and Shaping Jewish Leadership,” _The Librarians_, May 17, 2026, [https://blog.nli.org.il/en/abe_foxman/](https://blog.nli.org.il/en/abe_foxman/). [^15]: Anti-Defamation League, _2015 Annual Report_, 2016, [https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/2015-annual-report.pdf](https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/2015-annual-report.pdf). *Netanyahu's praise of Foxman is found on page 18.* [^16]: William Safire, “Essay; The A.D.L. And Rich,” _New York Times_, March 29, 2001, _Internet Archive_, [https://web.archive.org/web/20250707063916/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/opinion/essay-the-adl-and-rich.html](https://web.archive.org/web/20250707063916/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/opinion/essay-the-adl-and-rich.html). [^17]: Ami Eden, “Q & A: Abraham Foxman,” _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, October 24, 2007, [https://www.jta.org/2007/10/24/united-states/q-a-abraham-foxman](https://www.jta.org/2007/10/24/united-states/q-a-abraham-foxman). [^18]: Abraham H. Foxman, “The Passion Relies on the Theme of Anti-Semitism,” _Anti-Defamation League_, January 24, 2004, [https://www.adl.org/resources/news/passion-relies-theme-anti-semitism](https://www.adl.org/resources/news/passion-relies-theme-anti-semitism). [^19]: UJA-Federation of New York, “Today We Mourn the Passing of Abraham Foxman, Z”L, a Towering Voice in the Fight Against Antisemitism...,” *Facebook*, May 10, 2026, [https://www.facebook.com/ujafedny/posts/today-we-mourn-the-passing-of-abraham-foxman-zl-a-towering-voice-in-the-fight-ag/1599244841559914/](https://www.facebook.com/ujafedny/posts/today-we-mourn-the-passing-of-abraham-foxman-zl-a-towering-voice-in-the-fight-ag/1599244841559914/). [^20]: March of the Living, “Remembering Abraham Foxman, z”l,” [https://motl.org/remembering-abraham-foxman-zl/](https://motl.org/remembering-abraham-foxman-zl/). [^21]: Andrew Silow-Carroll, “At Abraham Foxman’s Funeral, an Elegy for the Last Generation With Direct Ties to the Holocaust,” _The Forward_, May 12, 2026, [https://forward.com/fast-forward/824764/at-abraham-foxmans-funeral-an-elegy-for-the-last-generation-with-direct-ties-to-the-holocaust/](https://forward.com/fast-forward/824764/at-abraham-foxmans-funeral-an-elegy-for-the-last-generation-with-direct-ties-to-the-holocaust/). [^22]: Rutgers Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience, “Miller Center Mourns Passing of Advisory Committee Member Abraham H. Foxman,” May 11, 2026, [https://millercenter.rutgers.edu/miller-center-mourns-passing-of-advisory-committee-member-abraham-h-foxman/](https://millercenter.rutgers.edu/miller-center-mourns-passing-of-advisory-committee-member-abraham-h-foxman/).