Joel Beinin, Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus, Stanford University, Jan 23, 2025

Were you shocked and outraged by Elon Musk’s fascist salute during the celebrations of the inauguration of the 47^th president of the United States? Was it, in the words of Philip Roth (in Operation Shylock) and Naomi Kein (in Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World), “too ridiculous to take seriously and too serious to be ridiculous”? Is it a harbinger of Trumpite autocracy?

Historian of fascism, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, described Musk’s gesture as a “very belligerent Nazi salute.” Nick Fuentes, a notorious white supremacist, Christian nationalist, misogynist, and antisemite, agreed, “That was a straight up like ‘Sieg Heil’, like loving Hitler energy.” The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Studies (named for the Polish-Jewish jurist who coined the term genocide) concurred that Musk’s intention was unambiguous and intentional:

Should Mr. Musk argue that he “did not mean” to flash the Nazi salute, or that he was doing some  other arm gesture, we ask Americans to respond with critical thinking. Is it possible that any person – especially in South Africa (where support for Nazism was very strong) or the USA (where the History Channel has introduced almost all but the youngest generations to the Nazi salute) – is unaware of this salute or what it means? …. We strongly believe that Elon Musk’s gesture was intentional. 

In contrast, the Anti-Defamation League, which touts itself as, “the leading anti-hate organization in the world,” posted on X that Musk merely “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute” and asked people to give him “the benefit of the doubt.” 

Why would the ADL risk further damage to its credibility, already tarnished by its history of spying on progressive activists, flawed methodology in compiling statistics on incidents of antisemitism, and cheer leading for police and national guard interventions against Palestine solidarity activism on campuses? In a word, Israelism. The ADL is willing to ignore the antisemitism of MAGA partisans and thereby put American Jews (and all Americans) at risk to protect reliable partisans of Israel.

For many years, but much more aggressively since October 7, 2023, the ADL and like-minded major North American Jewish organizations have made support for Israel their primary value. They have subordinated the liberal values traditionally embraced by the great majority of the American Jewish community – freedom of speech and association, separation of religion and state, anti-racism, equality under the law – to support for Israel. The leading edge of institutional Jewish illiberalism, which aims to silence criticism of Israel’s genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip, has been the overwrought claims that the unprecedented level of expressions of Palestine solidarity on American and international campuses since October 7 are expressions of antisemitism. 

The views of the ADL and American Jewish organizations that share its perspective mirror the opinions of a decisive majority of Jewish Israelis. According to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute just before the 2024 US election, 72% of Jewish Israelis believed President Trump is better for Israel’s interests compared to 11% who though Vice President Harris is better. Among Israelis who voted for parties in Israel’s current governing coalition (including Itamar Ben-Gvir’s quasi-fascist Jewish Power Party which recently left the government because it opposes the cease fire in the Gaza Strip), 93% supported Trump and only 1% supported Harris. In contrast, according to the largest preliminary exit poll, 79% of all American Jews voted for Kamala Harris.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the consensus of the Israeli pundit class is that the three-phase ceasefire and hostage/prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on the day before Trump’s installation as oligarch-in-chief was primarily due to pressure he and his envoy, billionaire real estate investor Steve Witkoff, put on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meron Rappaport, an editor at +972 webzine, expressed a dissident view that “the decision to accept the ceasefire deal appears to have less to do with Trump than with the shifting perception of the war inside Israel.”

Palestinian American analysts Zaha Hassan and Yousef Munayyer discussed the Gaza ceasefire deal with Alex Kane on the Jewish Currents podcast, “On the Nose.” They differ on Trump’s role in bringing it about. But they concur with Trump himself, who said he is “not confident” that the ceasefire will be upheld through all three phases. 

In October 2023 the ADL together with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law signaled their alignment with the MAGA assault on higher education by sending an open letter to Presidents of nearly 200 colleges and universities, urging administrators to investigate campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for allegedly supporting Hamas. The ADL and the Brandeis Center thereby attempted to delegitimize support for Palestinian rights. Brandeis, Columbia, George Washington, University of Pennsylvania and other institutions have banned their SJP chapters. Columbia also suspended its Jewish Voice for Peace chapter. 

The ADL cheered on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s fall 2023 McCarthyite public hearings “investigating” antisemitism at elite east coast universities. At those hearings, with UN Ambassador designate Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) who believes that Israel has a “biblical right” to the West Bank in a starring role, MAGA Republicans put on a performance that was also “too ridiculous to take seriously and too serious to be ridiculous.” The ADL contributed to the manufactured hysteria with its own simplistic “Campus Antisemitism Report Card.” 

Over half of the House committee’s October 31, 2024 report “Antisemitism on College Campuses Exposed” targets Columbia University. At the hearings, Rep. Stefanik’s misquote of Columbia Law School Professor Katherine Franke, a renowned scholar of law, sexuality, race, and religion, was a key element in Stefanik’s bullying of former Columbia University President Minouche Shafik. 

Prof. Franke explained in a December 2023 interview on Democracy Now that students demanding a ceasefire and an end to Columbia’s investments in corporations profiting from Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip were sprayed with a foul-smelling chemical by three Israeli students who had served in the IDF. Eight students were reportedly hospitalized, complaining of burning eyes, headaches, nausea and other symptoms. Columbia administrators initiated disciplinary procedures against Prof. Franke as a result of that interview. 

On January 10, 2025 Prof. Franke concluded that Columbia had become a hostile environment for her and students who support Palestinian rights and tendered her resignation as James L. Dohr Professor of Law after 25 years of teaching at Columbia Law School. Peter Beinart interviewed Prof. Franke about the circumstances that led to her resignation on the Foundation for Middle East Peace’s “Occupied Thoughts” Jan. 22 podcast.

Prof. Franke’s resignation is one of several recent attacks on academic freedom and freedom of speech at American universities and colleges. The ADL and other major American Jewish organizations celebrate as “victories” the resignation of Prof. Franke, the summary firing of tenured Prof. Maura Finkelstein at Muhlenberg College, and similar actions. Historically, American Jews have understood that vigorous defense of civil rights, due process, and equality under the law are essential to Jewish security. The ADL and its co-thinkers would like us to believe that undermining liberal education and liberal political values is “good for the Jews.” It is not good for anyone.