The ADL Dishonors Itself by Honoring Cory Booker and His Support for Iran

As everyone knows, I brought Cory Booker, now my senator in New Jersey, to the Jewish community via his first becoming my Student President at Oxford University from 1992-1994. We became as close as brothers and studied hundreds of hours of Torah together.

The Jewish community was instrumental in Cory’s winning a Senate seat and supporting him more than any other candidate in that election cycle in 2010. But as everyone also knows, Cory betrayed the Jewish community and the American people by voting to give Iran $150 billion USD in 2015 and has never repudiated his vote and has never condemned Iran from the floor of the Senate, even after October 7th, which Iran financed.

Cory was actually in Israel on October 7th by providence and witnessed Hamas atrocities firsthand, but has still yet to condemn Iran. He hightailed it out of Israel for his own protection even though so many of his Senate colleagues, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, came to Israel that same week to show their support for Israel and world Jewry. While they came to Israel, Cory ran. Even the president of the United States, Joe Biden, came to Israel that week, becoming the first US president to come to an active war zone to show support for Israel, as Cory fled.

It was therefore our plan at the World Values Network, which I head, after hearing that my very good friends at the ADL, and especially the courageous fighter for the Jewish people, Jonathan Greenblatt, were inexplicably planning to honor Cory with a speech at their annual ‘Anti-hate’ Luncheon on June 10th, to stage a public protest against the ADL’s incomprehensible decision. We are so grateful to the NYPD for giving us permission to do the protest, right outside Ciprianis on 42nd St where the lunch will be held this Monday. 

However, in the interest of Jewish unity, especially at this critical time, where a tsunami of anti-semitism is washing over the United States, I asked my good friend Jonathan Greenblatt to simply put out a tweet that the ADL repudiates Cory’s vote to fund Iran, and we would cancel the public protest.

Just a tweet. That’s all we requested.

Jonathan Greenblatt has sadly not accepted this very reasonable and appropriate request. He has offered, at most, to mention his opposition to the JCPOA Iran-Deal in his introduction of Cory at the Luncheon, to distance himself from Cory’s vote and repudiate it utterly. While I appreciate this, and it is just and honorable to do so, it’s simply and obviously not enough.

The honor Cory is being given, speaking for America’s premier anti-Antisemitism organization, is public and widely publicized and sends the message to all those who will not be attending that you can vote to fund Iran to murder Jews and Americans and be honored by the ADL. Cory’s vote for Iran and refusal to condemn their genocidal intent against America, Israel, and Jews in particular is an affront to decency and basic values and the core mission of the ADL.

Accordingly, we plan to move forward with our public protest this coming Monday, God willing, in the hope that, even at this late hour, the ADL will fulfill their mission of combating antisemitism and fighting for Israel and publicly repudiate Cory’s funding of Iran as Israel, including my two IDF soldier sons, fight for Israel and the Jewish people’s survival.

I am writing this from Normandy, France where I traveled for the 80th commemorations of D-Day and where President Biden spoke today at Omaha Beach, where we all paid homage to the thousands of Americans who gave their lives for freedom and liberty. I prayed beside the graves of countless American heroes at the Normandy American Cemetery. Hamas are the modern day Nazis. They are funded by Iran. Any Senator who votes to fund Iran cannot be honored by any segment of the Jewish community and especially the ADL.

Jonathan and the ADL, it’s time to stand with America and Israel against Iran. Put out a public statement condemning Cory’s vote, even if you plan to move ahead with the speech.

Now is the time for complete Jewish unity in fighting global Jew-hatred and Iran’s plans for a second Holocaust.