Jerusalem, May 4, 2016 … On the occasion of the publication of the Hebrew version of former Israeli Ambassador and current Knesset Member Michael Oren’s book, “Ally: My Journey Across the American Israeli Divide,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) congratulated Mr. Oren on this milestone and took the opportunity to put to rest a controversy that arose surrounding the book’s original publication last year.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:
On the occasion of the publication of the Hebrew version of Michael Oren’s book “Ally: My Journey Across the American Israeli Divide,” we thought we’d take the opportunity to congratulate him on this milestone and extinguish a controversy that arose around the date of the original publication.
At the time, ADL leadership voiced concern about sentiments expressed in an opinion article written by Ambassador Oren. There were some who misinterpreted the piece as suggesting that we thought he was using racist language. This is a good time, with the Hebrew version appearing, that we as ADL make clear that we never intended to suggest that what he said was racist, nor did we have any intent to suggest the ambassador is racist. We apologize for any harm this may have caused him professionally and personally. We respect his scholarship as a historian and his contributions as a diplomat and elected official. He is a person of the highest integrity whose career has reflected a commitment to the public good.
Whether or not we agree on every issue, ADL has deep admiration for Mr. Oren. We are grateful for his lifelong devotion to the state of Israel and to the Jewish people.