They had been trying to reach me because someone had posted death threats against me and my family on the hate site 8chan, but had been unsuccessful in locating me because, as an observant Jew, I don’t use phones or computers on Jewish holidays.
I was in the middle of a campaign for Seattle City Council and my opponents had made a political debate a personal attack.
The post stated: "This f*cker is running for Seattle city council. Hoffman lives on my street, and has an Israeli flag hanging out front. What is the move?"
The replies included, "Kill Ari Hoffman. Literally kill Ari Hoffman. Burn the flag along with [the individual], dead or alive. There is no victory without violence..."
Others suggested using Molotov cocktails on my home and targeting my children.
The threats were investigated by SPD and the FBI, but some in my own faith who should have stood by me were silent.
The Anti-Defamation League was silent for close to a week, during which time other Jewish organizations led by the American Jewish Committee came to my defense.
Finally, after pressure from donors, the local branch of the ADL issued a lukewarm statement 5 days after the threats made national and international headlines, in which they said they were “disturbed” by the threats made against my family.
They also claimed “We have spoken with the candidate, his campaign staff, and with local community leaders and ADL’s Center on Extremism is actively monitoring the situation. In addition, ADL has reached out to the Seattle Police Department and FBI to assist as a resource in any way we can.”
However, the investigation was closed shortly thereafter, while the campaign was still ongoing, with no suspects and not a peep from the ADL in protest. I had to use my own resources to find the culprit, who eventually revealed themselves as a far-left activist whose plan was to get the “the nazis to f*ck with his social media.”
The ADL, an organization that claims its “timeless mission” is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” abandoned me and my family.
While other candidates were spending money on canvassers, ads, and yard signs, a portion of my funds were allocated to security guards.
Under the tenure of CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Obama administration, the ADL has become more about pushing the agenda of the Democratic party and the radical left than looking out for the Jewish people.
On Monday, Elon Musk announced that he is considering suing the ADL to clear the X (formerly Twitter) platform's name after news broke that X is down approximately 60 percent in US ad revenue as the ADL continues to put pressure on its advertisers to pass on the social media platform.
Musk has claimed that the ADL has been trying to destroy his platform by making claims that both he and X are "anti-Semitic."
Speaking as a frequent target of antisemites, there was Jew-hatred on the platform long before the Tesla CEO bought the company, just as there is on almost every other social media platform, including Facebook. The ADL seemed to only care once Musk bought the platform.
Jew hatred is nothing new, but those who claim to stand up against it have instead set their sights on the people they previously swore to protect.
It was revealed that the ADL pressured X to de-platform the popular account Libs of TikTok, which is run by Chaya Raichik, an observant Jewish woman.
The ADL is employing the same tactics used by activists such as Nandini Jammi of Check My Ads, who previously used my image, that of a Jew, to target advertisers of this outlet claiming that The Post Millennial featured content “by neo-Nazis.”
I’m thankful that my great-grandmother, whose family was murdered by the Nazis, didn’t have to see that slanderous claim.
Jammi has used the same tactics to attack The Daily Wire, The Federalist, Breitbart, Bongino Report, and Fox News, tactics the ADL now uses to attack Jews because Greenblatt disagrees with their political ideology. By doing so, Greenblatt and the ADL have contributed to more antisemitism coming from the far-left and far-right in response to his accusations.
I would very much like to see the communications that Musk has allegedly received from the ADL. I am curious about which other Jews may have been targeted for having right-leaning views. Ben Shapiro? Dennis Prager? Dave Rubin? Mark Levin? I wonder if my own account was ever targeted by the leftist organization. Did the ADL target Jewish Democrats who may not buy into the radical narrative the current party supports?
I have plenty of disagreements with Musk. I want to know why he is so cozy with the Chinese Communist government. Why did he build a Tesla showroom in the Xinjiang province where Uyghur Muslims are being shipped to concentration camps?
But in the effort to expose those who are attempting to censor free speech in America, especially those who claim to be standing up for Jews, but are allegedly targeting their own co-religionists, Musk will find me a willing and eager partner.
