As participants in an antisemitism conference organized by the Israeli government backed out over the course of several days, citing the presence of far-right politicians, an unexplained change unfolded on the event’s website.
The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, disappeared from both the page showcasing participants and from the agenda for the conference, organized by Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.
But as of Tuesday morning, neither the U.S. antisemitism watchdog group nor Greenblatt had commented publicly on why. On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the group issued a statement that filled in some of the gaps.
“In light of some of the recently announced participants at the Israeli government’s antisemitism conference, Jonathan decided last week that he would no longer be attending the event, and he notified the Israeli government about the decision after the weekend,” the spokesperson wrote.
The statement did not specify which of the participants had concerned Greenblatt. Other participants had proclaimed on social media that they were backing out because the event included far-right politicians, including the leader of a French political party with a history of outright antisemitism.
Chikli sees the far-right parties as partners in a shared fight against Muslim influence in Europe. Israel has recently changed official policy to open relations with the far-right in several countries, though not in Germany or Austria, where far right parties are ascendant.
A handful of participants have expressed their commitment to attend despite others’ concerns. Natan Sharansky announced on Monday that he was still in, though he cautioned that Israel should be consulting Jewish communities abroad, whose leaders generally oppose the far right, while planning conferences concerning them.
On Tuesday, the Yemeni-Swedish pro-Israel influencer Luai Ahmed posted on social media that he, too, remained excited about the conference, taking place near the end of the month in Jerusalem. He said he was looking forward to meeting Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a celebrity crusader against Islamic extremism, before addressing the issue of the far-right speakers. (Ali posted about her plan to attend without addressing the issue.)
“Regarding the complaints about the conference inviting predominantly European right-wing political parties, perhaps the absence of European leftist parties has more to do with the fact that large portions of the European left have been cozying up to Islamist fascists — those who dream of killing all Jews and eradicating the only Jewish state?” Ahmed wrote. “Just a thought…”
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