CHICAGO—The longtime leader of the Anti-Defamation League, who now serves as director emeritus, expressed concern about Jews being forced to meet in "secret locations" at the Democratic National Convention due to security threats and anti-Semitism.
"I know in my heart that in the future, it will be better, for Jews in America, then [sic] it is today. But I fear it will never be the same," said Abraham Foxman in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
"After 50 years fighting anti-Semitism in America, I could not have imagined a time Jews would have to meet in secret locations in Chicago at DNC."
Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, served as director of the Jewish civil rights organization from 1987 to 2015. The ADL is now run by Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Obama aide, who has steered it in a much more partisan direction.
Foxman’s comments come as Jewish groups holding events on the sidelines of the convention have kept their meeting locations a closely guarded secret.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America held panel discussions with former U.S. ambassador to Spain Alan Solomont and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), but attendees were required to register before receiving the location. Private security and metal detectors were present at both events.
The Israeli-American Council only disclosed the location for its "Hostage Square" discussion to attendees a few hours before it started, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.
The security concerns appeared justified. On Tuesday, pro-Hamas agitators disrupted a DNC event with hostage families hosted by Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group. The protesters shouted, "Zionism has got to fall" and "Shame on you" at attendees. Dozens of anti-Israel protesters were also arrested after clashing with police near the convention Tuesday night.
Jewish Democratic leaders acknowledged the concerns about anti-Semitism at the DNC but also downplayed the divisions within their party.
Wasserman Schultz, speaking at a JDCA event on Thursday, said she had "angst for over a week over what the reaction would be" when the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the eight Americans being held captive by Hamas, spoke at the DNC on Wednesday.
Wasserman Schultz said there was a lot of "hype about how many protesters there were going to be," and she felt relieved when there were no disruptions from the audience.
But Democratic politicians have also seemed reluctant to mention Israel’s war with Hamas and the Oct. 7 attacks on the convention stage. None of the prominent Jewish Democratic speakers—including second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro—mentioned Israel or the hostage crisis in their remarks.
The only speakers to broach the subject were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, who are aligned with the left-leaning anti-Israel movement. Both politicians called for an Israeli ceasefire.
President Joe Biden briefly acknowledged the anti-Israel protests in his speech on Monday, saying the activists "have a point."