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This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on September 11, 2021, written by Adam Milstein of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

Good News: Antisemitism is no longer a problem worth combatting

Dear friends and colleagues, members of the Jewish-American community:

Good News! Antisemitism is no longer a problem worth combatting.

This is the assessment of a large number of fellow Jews I’ve reached out to over the past few years. The outreach was part of my effort to recruit others to partner with me in my fight against the world’s oldest hatred, which is now, once again, inciting violence against Jews.

Although I decided to continue fighting instead of shifting to a laidback lifestyle, I owe it to you to provide some of the reasonable as well as absurd excuses I’ve heard over the years. So here it is, as expressed by some of my Jewish peers who tried to convince me that my activism is a bad idea.

This article was originally published in the 19FortyFive.com on August 12, 2021, written by Adam Milstein of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, and James Jay Carafano of The Heritage Foundation.

America can’t afford to squander key bilateral relations in the Middle East. Jordan would be near the top of any list of important partners. Recently, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and President Joe Biden had an upbeat meeting in Washington. But even better than smiles and handshakes would be a concerted action plan that better serves the interests of both nations.

The meeting suggests there is plenty of opportunity for that. Both sides should get to it.

While China demands an increasing amount of attention, the U.S. cannot afford to disengage from the Middle East. For one, the competition with China is global. If Washington reduces its focus and influence in the Middle East, Beijing will be happy to step into the gap. China is anxious to build out a hard-sphere of influence that will dominate routes of trade, resources, energy, food supplies, and markets from the Asian mainland to the heart of Europe. The Middle East is a piece that fits nicely into their new imperial puzzle.

The Greater Middle East is of inherently strategic importance to any global power. It is the “middle” of everything important to the globe—sea routes, energy supplies, commercial air travel and financial networks, capital flows, and migration routes.

No one benefits more from a stable, peaceful, and prosperous Greater Middle East more than the United States.

American influence in the region is built on the foundation of bilateral ties and military, economic, diplomatic, and security cooperation linkages. It’s a package deal. The ability to project both hard and soft power is what earns our partners’ respect.

Israel is America’s anchor in the region, the indispensable ally. But that’s never been enough. With no strategic depth, the U.S. benefits when Israel is surrounded by good neighbors. In turn, collective security and cooperation among them strengthens all of them—and that is a great benefit to the U.S.

Few nations in the region sit in a more strategic spot than Jordan. The profits of U.S.-Jordanian relations are long—from intelligence cooperation to serving as a critical mediator in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and hosting a vast displaced population.

There is no question the U.S. values the relationship. “The United States is Jordan’s largest source of bilateral assistance,” notes Heritage Foundation analyst Nicole Robinson, “providing billions of dollars of aid over the years to strengthen Jordan’s military capabilities and aid Jordan’s ailing economy.” But if Jordan and the U.S. are going to work together to build a better Middle East, Washington will need to do more than just throw money at the problem.

Here is what rolling up the sleeves really looks like.

Jordan has few developed resources. It does, however, enjoy an important strategic position, significant human capital, and potential—albeit thus far untapped—energy reserves, and the capacity to develop renewable energy infrastructure. What Jordan needs is a strong dose of economic freedom. Jordan lags behind the regional leaders in the Heritage Foundation’s “Index of Economic Freedom.” Its score on “business freedom,” for example, is a dismal 58.9%.

Fortunately, there is a ready mechanism to jump-start private sector development: the Abraham Accords. The accords were not just a Trump thing. Normalization of relations between the Arab states and Israel is an irreversible process, and economic integration and investment will be a key engine driving it forward. The U.S. ought to be actively engaged in promoting the process and creating opportunities and employment for the Jordanian private sector.

No external security concern looms larger for Jordan than the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime. Presently, the U.S. is deeply involved in negotiating reentry into the fatally flawed Iran deal. This is pretext, not for dealing with Iran, but for disengaging from the region. The U.S. needs a real plan for Iran. Maximum pressure against Tehran would restrain the regime much better. In addition, the U.S. needs to continue to support Iraq and help the government balance against Iranian influence.

The U.S. also needs to find sustainable measures to limit Iranian influence in Syria. The fate of the current Syrian regime and Russian presence in and around Damascus matters less than blocking Iran from establishing a strategic foothold. The Jordanian-sponsored deconfliction effort, allowing the U.S. and Russia to sit down and coordinate plans on how to kill ISIS without getting in each other’s way, might serve as model for future operations. The U.S. definitely needs some mechanism beyond the status quo that is adequate and sustainable, but also recognizes that Washington can never sanction, forgive or forget the extreme abuses of the Syrian regime.

There is no question the U.S. needs to remain serious about the Palestinian-Israeli issue. While it is difficult to see a reasonable path forward, there is a clear need to establish dialogue and look for ways to reach and engage the Palestinian people looking for opportunities to create real jobs, real business, and real economic connectivity to the region.

This article was originally published in the Algemeiner on July 12, 2021.

Few could have imagined that the current wave of violence against Jews in major American cities would be possible within living memory of the Holocaust.

Jews in America now fear walking the streets wearing Jewish artifacts, congregating outside Jewish community buildings, or even speaking Hebrew or Yiddish in public. Shocking and unparalleled scenes of Jews being assaulted by mobs of anti-Israel thugs in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and other American cities, have begun to ring alarm bells.

Early in July, a rabbi sitting outside a Boston synagogue was stabbed eight times by Khaled Awad, 24, a known and violent antisemite.

At anti-Israel rallies from Europe to our major cities in America, violent and murderous slogans against Jews are regularly chanted such as “Long live intifada,” “From the River to the Sea,” and “Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud! J’aish Mohammed sa ya’ud!” (“Khaybar, Khaybar, oh, Jews! Mohammed’s army will rise again!”–  a reference to the 7th-century Muslim massacre of the Jews of Khaybar, near Medina in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, i.e., present-day Saudi Arabia).

This torrent of Jew-hatred has also included harassment, vandalism, and online abuse.

Not the Usual Suspects Anymore

For the most part, this onslaught of antisemitic activity didn’t come from far-right groups. It has overwhelmingly been carried out by Muslim extremists, as well as  radical leftist allies. This didn’t happen out of the blue. Activists of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to delegitimize the State of Israel and promote antisemitism, have committed previous attacks against Jews in many universities and in major American cities.

As the Jewish-American community has been focused largely on the threats emanating from white supremacists, these acts of violence have been ignored and dismissed time and time again, while law enforcement agencies did not investigate or held these violent antisemites accountable.

The 2019 “The New Antisemites” report documented how the BDS movement has radicalized other hate groups, from the radical right to the radical left, and promoted violence against Jews. The American proponents of the BDS movement, including many Jews and Jewish institutions, bear responsibility for the transformation of anti-Israel vilification into the antisemitic violent attacks we have seen in recent weeks.

The Warning Signs: Anti-Israel Rallies and Aggressive Disruption of Pro-Israel Events

Over the past decade, extremists from the Islamo-Leftist alliance have become increasingly brazen and violent.

On college campuses, pro-Israel events have been disrupted for years, often violently. Anti-Israel activists have aggressively attacked and deplatformed speakers. As a result, pro-Israel speakers have been harassed, and events have had to be cancelled or required high security. This hasn’t been confined to universities.

In December 2017, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Time Square and called for violence against Jews worldwide chanting, “There is only one solution, Intifada Revolution” and “Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud! J’aish Mohammed sa ya’ud.”

In 2018, anti-Israel extremists with criminal records aggressively disrupted an event held by the pro-Israel nonprofit Reservists on Duty at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York. The NYPD was immediately called to the rescue, and while they removed the disrupters from the event, the latter were quickly released, no charges were filed, and no criminal investigation took place.

It was clear that it would only be a matter of time until we saw violent acts normalized against “evil” Israel supporters. The lack of a sufficient response by the Jewish community and law enforcement — and the fact that the perpetrators were not held accountable — sanctioned their actions, and paved the way for more severe violence against Jews. This has escalated to the situation we are witnessing today of Jews being openly targeted and attacked.

The Dam Breaks: Renewed Israel-Hamas Clashes in the Age of BLM

Following the riots related to George Floyd’s death and the rise of the BLM movement, Islamo-leftist extremists who see themselves as “justice warriors” for Palestinians became empowered and more radicalized. They saw this as a justification and an opportunity to physically intimidate and attack Jews in America, without consequence.

However, those who have been arrested in recent weeks are dangerous extremists and not social justice activists.

In Los Angeles, assailants Samer Jayylusi and Xavier Pabon both have criminal records. In New York, extremist Waseem Awawdeh showed no remorse for his actions, telling one of his jailers, “If I could do it again, I would do it again.” Upon his release on $10,000 bail, Awawdeh received a hero’s welcome in his community.

Palestinian social media influencer and model Bella Hadid even shared a photograph of a radical anti-Israel rally she participated in in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in which violent offender Awawdeh was also pictured. She lauded these violent radicals as “beautiful, smart, respectful, loving, kind and generous” — without any consequences.

The American Jewish Community Must Go on the Offensive

We, the American Jewish community, now know the reality of the violent, antisemitic threat originating from radical Islamic and leftist extremists. It is not just about hate speech; it is now a physical threat which, as current experience has shown, will escalate even further as the perpetrators are set free with no real consequences.

We can no longer afford to dismiss this growing danger as inconsequential, and rely solely on law enforcement agencies and security guards to prevent hate crimes against the Jewish community. We must become proactive, go on the offensive, and take responsibility for protecting our loved ones.

Otherwise, we Jews in America are condemning ourselves to live in fear like our Jewish brethren in Paris, London, Berlin, and similar European cities, where antisemitic assaults are commonplace and Jewish institutions are hardened like fortresses. That is not the life I want for myself, my family, for my community, for my people, and for all Americans.

This article was published on Aish.com on July 4, 2021.

Throughout Jewish history in the diaspora, Jews lived at the mercy of local rulers and largely lacked the ability to defend themselves. Today, however, American Jews have established themselves as one of the most successful immigrant communities in the United States and they also have the State of Israel to rely upon. Yet, in the face of intensifying antisemitism too much focus has been placed on documenting, educating about, and objecting to antisemitic acts after they occur instead of going on the offense. Not enough resources are and were invested in holding antisemites directly accountable and creating consequences for their bigotry.

Jew-hatred has become excusable and almost mainstream in America. During the latest Israel–Hamas conflict, we witnessed Jews in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities were violently attacked by mobs of anti-Israel demonstrators. In a shocking development many would never have thought possible within living memory of the Holocaust, many Jews in America now fear walking on the streets wearing articles or items that readily identify them as Jewish.

There has been outrage against the recent acts of violence against American Jews, but BDS movement and other antisemitic groups are only gaining strength. There has been outrage against growing antisemitism on mainstream media and social media, but the bias against Jews and the State of Israel is just exploding. There has outrage against legislators Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for promoting antisemitic tropes, but they’ve been let off with only a light slap on the wrist.

Some of this inaction can be explained by the false sense of security many American Jews cling to despite the alarming rise in hatred and violence toward Jews in America. However, most Jews and other Americans fail to appreciate that antisemitism is not just a problem for Jews; antisemitism is an issue for all Americans and threatens to destroy the American way of life.

The goal of the radical groups who espouse antisemitism – the radical left, the radical right, radical Muslims, and radical African Americans of Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam or the Black Hebrew Israelites – is not just to eradicate all Jews but mainly to destroy America as we know it. But, since Jews are the direct target of antisemitism, other Americans perceive Jew-hatred as a uniquely Jewish problem and fail to realize that defining antisemitism as a Jewish problem has long been a lose-lose proposition.

If we don’t take new, pro-active approaches, rising antisemitic attacks and public displays of hate will continue to come from these radical movements. If we, as American Jews, are truly ready to subdue this hate, we must start fighting Jew-hatred head-on together with our fellow Americans.

We will lose as Jews and as Americans if we continue accepting our prescribed role as the sacrificial canary in the coal mine, hoping that others may recognize the danger after it has already consumed us whole.

Instead, we need to actively work to detect threats far before they harm us and our country. There are practical actions we must take to go on the offensive against antisemitism. They include:

1. Investigating and exposing the radical movements that fuel the spread of this hatred by identifying their networks, financing and agendas;
2. Increasing knowledge-sharing capabilities that inform the American people about the threats and empower them to take action;
3. Holding the media accountable to the standards of a fair and free press;
4. Supporting legislation that curbs the influence of the radical movements in our institutions.

Rather than bemoaning the problem, it is time for all Americans to fight against this hatred and racism and for Jews to stand at the forefront of this fight.

Our history and the increasingly precarious reality demonstrate that the inalienable rights afforded by the Constitution cannot be taken for granted. We must uncompromisingly, bravely, and adamantly defend America from the dangers of antisemitism and the extremism it represents.

This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on June 10, 2021.

Each year Jews and non-Jews around the world recite the mantra “Never Again” to remember the six million Jewish lives and tens of millions of other victims murdered by the Nazis. And then, each year, we continue to see Jew-hatred and antisemitic violent attacks continue to soar all over the world.

We have a responsibility to remember the Holocaust, honor those precious lives lost, and elevate the voices of survivors. However, with the memory of the Holocaust fading, remembrance is not enough. We must do everything in our power to recognize the growing Jew-hatred and prevent it from being increasingly violent. “Never Again” must be accompanied by meaningful actions to prevent future genocides.

Defining antisemitism is critical to preventing and combating Jew-hatred

To effectively prevent and fight Jew-hatred, it first must be clearly defined. Antisemitism takes many shapes and forms, and its expression has morphed over the years. Classic antisemitic canards and age-old conspiracy theories about Jews focus on hatred of the Jewish people because of their religion, and from the 19th century onwards because of their race and ethnicity. While this type of hatred is currently prevalent among white supremacists and neo-Nazis, it is no longer the predominant form of antisemitism today.

Today’s antisemitism uses a new, pernicious expression of Jew-hatred: the delegitimization, demonization, and double standards placed on the Jewish State of Israel. While the new antisemitism has been popularized by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, it has now been adopted by all the other key antisemitic movements, such as white supremacists, radical Muslims, the far-left, and the followers of Louis Farrakhan.

In fact, the recently released The New Antisemites report documents how under the guise of “social justice” activism, the BDS movement radicalizes all other hate groups, promotes violence against Jews, and creates a threatening environment that normalizes antisemitism, something that history has shown to have deadly consequences.

The IHRA working definition of antisemitism encapsulates both the “old” and “new” Jew-hatred

On May 26, 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) published its working definition of antisemitism, which has since been adopted or endorsed by 36 UN Member States, including the US. The IHRA is a unique intergovernmental organization that empowers political and social leaders to address the need for Holocaust remembrance, research, and education worldwide to combat Holocaust denial and incitement of violence against Jews.

The IHRA definition encompasses both the old and new forms of Jew-hatred. Examples of the “old” include: “Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective…”, and from the “new:” “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor;” “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis;” and “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.”

The IHRA definition exposes the true agenda of today’s Jew-haters and holds them accountable for their antisemitism. To disguise their true, antisemitic goal of annihilating Israel, these new antisemites purport to support “human rights” and “social justice.” It is unsurprising then that the leading voices against the IHRA definition come from the BDS movement and far-left organizations.

The IHRA definition must be widely adopted to prevent Jew hatred and combat the violence antisemitism promotes and incites.

Realizing that proper education about the Holocaust is key to fighting today’s Jew-hatred, 19 US states require Holocaust education as part of their secondary school curricula. A comprehensive curriculum must include the IHRA definition of antisemitism, enabling educators to inform students about all of the different types of contemporary antisemitism and the severe consequences of sitting idle and not firmly fighting against Jew-hatred.

The IHRA definition is the most comprehensive definition of antisemitism. It has been endorsed by the Biden Administration and adopted by the US State Department, dozens of universities across the US and Canada, and the states of Kentucky, South Carolina, and Florida. All other states, universities, social media companies, schools, companies, and government entities should follow suit.

Remembrance alone is not enough: we must actively work to prevent future genocides

Analyses of the rising patterns of antisemitism around the globe today ominously resemble those in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. The latest conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas, funded and incited by the Holocaust-denying Iranian terrorist regime, generated a new onslaught of antisemitic hate and violence against Jews in Europe and America.

We’ve seen stunning scenes of Jews from New York to Los Angeles being assaulted on the streets by mobs of antisemitic, anti-Israel thugs. In a shocking development many would never have thought possible within living memory of the Holocaust, many Jews in America now fear walking on the streets in their kippot, speaking Hebrew in public, or wearing other articles or items that readily identify them as Jewish.

As Winston Churchill once said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It is our moral responsibility to recognize the similarities of the antisemitic events today to those preceding the Holocaust and take action.

We must actively work to ensure that activities, organizations, and movements promoting Jew-hatred will not result in mass genocide occurring again. To do so, we must expose and hold the perpetrators of hate and violence accountable.

To stop Jew-hatred we must not only focus on teaching about the lessons of the Holocaust, but we must also learn from them and act vigorously to prevent it from happening again. We must unite in pushing for the widespread adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, particularly when passing legislation mandating Holocaust education.

History has shown us that “The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.” When we say “Never Again,” let us take action to prevent a future holocaust.

The writer is an Israeli-American “active philanthropist.” He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.

Article originally published in JNS on May 18, 2021.

Our American way of life and Western values are under attack by radical hate groups funded by wealthy ideologues. To counter them, we must draw upon the same successful methods I employed in the fight against Jew-hatred.

Over the past decade, I have focused my activist efforts on the fight against anti-Semitism in the United States through strategic impact philanthropy. This approach to philanthropy requires not only financial giving but also the investment of time, experience, vision, and personal connections.

This has all been possible because America has afforded me, an immigrant from Israel, tremendous opportunities to succeed in business and build a wonderful life for my family. My business success allowed me to dedicate my resources to make an impact.

In recognition of all that America has given me, I have decided to expand my philanthropic focus to counter the unprecedented assault on America and its values.

Contributing to a strong, secure America benefits not only the American people but also ensures the well-being of the Jewish people and other minorities in the U.S. and around the world.

Empowering a coalition to combat anti-Semitism

To fight Jew-hatred, I analyzed which organizations were the most effective in combating anti-Semitism and which philanthropists were supporting them. Then, I cultivated a network of like-minded donors, and together we selected organizations to support, based on their impact and willingness to collaborate with one another.

Knowing it takes a network to defeat a network, my fellow donors and I directed the organizations in our coalition to map out the network of adversaries propagating Jew-hatred and the various groups fighting anti-Semitism.

We, the connected donors, facilitated and provided funding for partnerships among the organizations. We ensured that they develop and share actionable research that would be actively utilized to go on the offensive.

As a result, a coalition of dozens of groups marginalized and discredited the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement by exposing its affiliations with terrorism; how it promotes hate towards and violence against Jews; and its opposition to peace and normalization in the Middle East.

Broadening the battle to protect America and its values

Our American way of life and Western values are under attack by radical hate groups on both the left and the right, funded by wealthy ideologues. To counter them, we must draw upon the same successful methods I employed in the fight against Jew-hatred.

First, we must map out the fundamental American values that we are fighting for, including democracy; freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly; education without indoctrination; rule of law; and capitalism.

Second, we need to network with like-minded philanthropists who are willing and able to provide a coalition of organizations with funding, direction informed by high-quality research, and a network to promote collaboration.

Third, we need to identify the allies that excel at each one of these key standards and are willing to share information and build relationships with like-minded organizations. These allies include grassroots groups that are directly involved on the ground and with the public, think tanks, legal and media organizations, and research groups.

The movements working to harm America are organized in a similar structure and empowered by a network of mega-donors. To defeat them, our network of donors and allies will have to identify the opposing groups’ agendas, objectives, networks, funders, and plans. We will then use this information to counter the opposing organizations in the environments in which they currently hold sway.

Partnering with the best in class

To start, we need to determine the most effective willing, and able financial partners and organizations with which to work. We must evaluate the organization to ensure that it is fully committed to strengthening and protecting American values and freedoms. An organization should have a clear definition of what these values are, and must accurately recognize the threat that our enemies pose to America and the American way of life.

It is then critical to evaluate the organization’s track record of success. One marker of long-term success is the ability to build synergies. It is necessary to select groups that habitually and naturally collaborate with others and complement one another’s distinctive contributions.

My successful track record in fighting anti-Semitism, forged by more than a decade of adversity and experience in the field, provides a readily available template to developing a powerful network of like-minded organizations to safeguard a strong and secure America.

I call on fellow philanthropists who want to fight for America and the cherished values it represents to join us in taking this new, assertive approach of active strategic impact philanthropy, to combat the groups that seek to undermine America and all it stands for.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropreneur. He can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @AdamMilstein, and on Facebook www.facebook.com/AdamMilsteinCP.

This article was published in the HPP blog May 3, 2021.

By Adam Milstein

Some say that it’s more challenging to effectively donate money than to earn it. I agree. While it is a “no brainer” to choose the non-profit organizations you support based on your personal acquaintances or social affiliations, real impact can only be achieved by creating a strategic philanthropic plan and being willing to implement it.

There have been few experiences in my life more rewarding or meaningful than becoming an active philanthropist.

I arrived in America in 1981, after serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War on the battlefields of the Suez Canal front, and attending the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology. I came here with my wife Gila and two daughters and worked hard to attain success in my business of investing and operating commercial real estate properties. Eventually, I became a managing partner at Hager Pacific Properties, and the firm has been blessed with great prosperity.

As my success in business grew, my philanthropic journey began. I adopted the principle of donating one tenth of my earnings. However, I quickly found out that philanthropy works the other way around. Whatever I gave, G-d found mysterious ways to reward me 10 times more.

Gila and I now have the luxury of committing ourselves nearly full-time to our philanthropic endeavors and activism. I’ve never worked harder in my life – and I’ve never felt more like there isn’t enough time to finish the job.

Over the past 20 years, we have become affiliated with dozens of new non-profits every year, discovering their unique advantages and special value propositions. We established the Milstein Family Foundation, through which we have funded hundreds of organizations.

Being involved with many organizations gives us greater leverage to amplify our impact. It allows us to facilitate synergies and collaborations between organizations, learn which groups are effective and which are not, and create connections with a vast network of people.

Through my work, I’ve come to realize that there are three main approaches to major philanthropy: “specific philanthropy,” “social club philanthropy ”and “strategic impact philanthropy.”

In specific philanthropy, donors give to better the lives of specific members of their community and issues close to their hearts. The focus is on the personal trust and connections the philanthropist has with the grantees or with the cause.

In social club philanthropy, the benefactor gives to be part of a social or a business group of other like-minded, wealthy and influential people. The moment the philanthropists exit their social club, the interest in supporting the group and its related issues dies.

Strategic impact philanthropy, which we personally practice, requires not only financial giving to a network of non-profit organizations, but also the investment of time, experience, vision and personal connections.

To make sure our philanthropy has a high return on investment, we personally help the organizations with support not only with funding, but also through providing advice based on our knowledge and experience, establishing new organizations and programs to fill voids we see, and leveraging our extensive network to help these causes and generate synergies that make every group stronger.

Gila and I have seen firsthand how strategic impact philanthropy makes a significant, nationwide impact. Not only are we are able to see the results within our lifetime, but we can also leave an enduring legacy to our children, grandchildren and community.

Nothing of lasting impact can be achieved without your own blood, sweat, and tears. We invite our fellow major donors and donors-to-be to join us in becoming strategic impact philanthropists. It may require more than just “putting your money where your mouth is,” but the return is beyond imaginable.

This article was originally published in the Daily Caller on April 12, 2021.

I am a proud American. This country has afforded me, an immigrant from Israel, boundless opportunities to succeed in business and build a beautiful life for my family.

My business success allowed me to dedicate my resources to making an impact in this world through strategic impact philanthropy. This approach to philanthropy requires not only giving financial resources, but also the investment of time, experience, vision, and personal connections.

Over the past decade, I have focused my strategic philanthropy on the fight against anti-Semitism in the U.S. and have come to see that contributing to a strong, secure America benefits not only the American people but also ensures the well-being of the Jewish people and other minorities here in the U.S., Israel and around the world.

This is why I have decided to expand my philanthropic focus to counter the unprecedented assault on America and the values on which it stands.

Developing a Coalition to Fight Antisemitism through Strategic Active Philanthropy

In our coalition focused on fighting Jew-hatred, we asked ourselves which organizations were the most effective and which philanthropists were supporting them. Then, we cultivated a network of like-minded donors, and together we selected organizations to support based on their impact and willingness to collaborate with each other.

Knowing it takes a network to defeat a network, my fellow donors and I encouraged the organizations we worked with to map out the network of adversaries propagating Jew-hatred and the various groups fighting anti-Semitism.

We, the donors, provided funding for collaborations and facilitated partnerships between the organizations. We encouraged all of them to develop and share actionable research and use it to go on the offensive.

For instance, a coalition of many groups was able to marginalize and discredit the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement by exposing its affiliations with terrorism, how it promotes hate and violence towards Jews, and its opposition to peace and normalization in the Middle East.

Expanding the Battle to Fight for America

Our American way of life and the values at the heart of Western society are under attack by radical hate groups on both the left and the right, funded by ideology philanthropists. To counter them, we must draw upon the same successful methods of fighting against Jew-hatred.

The first step is to map out the American values that are worth fighting for, including democracy, the freedoms of speech, religion, press, and assembly, education without indoctrination, capitalism, and rule of law.

Secondly, we need to reach out to other like-minded philanthropists who are willing and able to provide a network of organizations with funding, research, and direction, and promote collaboration.

Lastly, we need to identify the allies that excel at strengthening each one of these values and are willing to share information and encourage them to build relationships with other like-minded organizations.

These allies include think tanks, legal organizations, media organizations, research groups, and grassroots organizations that are directly involved on the ground and with the public.

The movements working to harm America are also comprised of similar organizations and empowered by a network of mega-donors. To defeat them, our network of donors and allies will have to identify the opposing groups’ agendas, objectives, funders, networks, and plans. We will then use this information to counter the opposing organizations on the playing fields they currently control.

Selecting Partner Donors and New Allied Organizations

To begin, we need to determine the most effective willing, and able financial partners and organizations to work with.

Firstly, we determine whether an organization is fully committed to working to strengthen and protect American values and freedoms. An organization should have a clear definition of what these values are and must accurately recognize the threat our enemies pose to America and the American way of life.

Secondly, it is critical to evaluate an organization’s track record of success. One marker of long-term success is the ability to build synergies. It is necessary to select groups that regularly collaborate with others and complement each other’s unique work.

Our successful track record in fighting anti-Semitism, forged by more than a decade of adversity and experience in the trenches, provides a readily available template to developing a powerful network of like-minded organizations to safeguard a strong and secure America.

We call on fellow philanthropists who want to fight for America and the cherished values it represents to join us in taking this new, assertive approach of active philanthropy to combat the forces that seek to weaken America and all it stands for.

Full bio: https://www.jpost.com/author/adam-milstein

This article was originally published in The Hill on March 11, 2021.

What will the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel look like under President Biden? It really is too soon to tell. On a number of crucial strategic issues, including this vital relationship, the administration does not appear to be of one mind. Like watching James McAvoy’s character in the movie Split, we must wait and see which personalities dominate.

Clearly, Biden wishes to build consensus on foreign policy matters. He also hopes to keep complicated geostrategic issues on the back burner while his administration focuses on its domestic agenda. At the same time, the core of his foreign policy team looks like an Obama administration alumni reunion. Naturally, they think their policies served the nation well in the Obama era and want to get back to them as soon as possible.

And then there is the far left of the Democratic Party, which rejects Washington’s traditional bipartisan support for a U.S.-Israel alliance. They see Israel as the root of the region’s problems, siding with the Palestinians in the conflict with the only democracy in the Middle East. Indeed, they think the Middle East would be better off if the Muslim Brotherhood were in charge, supplanting the regimes in countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. And they oppose the Trump administration’s attempt to restrain Iran.

Some of President Biden’s most recent nominees belong to this group of anti-Israel radicals. Maher Bitar, a Palestinian American and activist in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, was appointed senior director of intelligence programs at the National Security Council. Uzra Zeya, who has a long record of spreading “Israel lobby” and “secret money” anti-Semitic conspiracies, was nominated as undersecretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights. And Robert Malley, Biden’s special envoy to Tehran, is openly sympathetic to the mullahs’ regime and has expressed anti-Israel sentiments.

How all this gets sorted out remains to be seen. Biden came to office with no apparent plan for dealing with the big foreign issues like the Middle East and China, offering only vague promises to “restore America’s credibility.” There are some clues on Biden’s ideas about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His administration has endorsed the two-state solution. It also plans to restore aid to the Palestinian Authority, renew funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and reopen the Palestinian Liberation Organization mission office in Washington.

Yet throughout his career, Biden has unapologetically supported Israel and firmly rejected the antisemitic BDS movement. Moreover, his administration has embraced the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. Recently the administration announced its opposition to the International Criminal Court probe into Israel requested by the Palestinians. The objection argued that the probe “unfairly” targets Israel and that Palestine isn’t a sovereign state and therefore has no standing at the Hague.

Biden’s position on Iran also remains cloudy. He assured all that he was going to rejoin the Obama era deal but presented no well-thought-out plan for doing so. It’s no secret the Iranians are resolved to develop nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. So how will he deal with the Iranian demands to immediately roll back all sanctions, as a precondition to getting them to the negotiating table?

Israel has noticed that the Biden administration no longer mentions “all military options are on the table” in its communications about Iran. When Israeli leaders announced that they are refreshing the attack plans against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the administration immediately warned “its allies in the Middle East” not to oppose American policies or seek military solutions. Then there are the Abraham Accords. The Administration may have a plan for the most consequential geopolitical initiative in the region in a generation but, if so, they are not sharing it.

What all these ambivalent measures have in common is that none of them actually appears to advance U.S. interests in the region. Those interests are: restraining Iran; tamping down extremism; promoting collective security and economic integration, and constraining the disruptive influence of Russia and China. The ambivalence leaves the U.S.-Israeli relationship on unsettled ground since the American relationship with Israel is fundamentally grounded in the reality that the Israelis are crucial for safeguarding U.S. interests in the region.

There are not enough dots to connect yet to determine exactly how Biden will handle all of the challenges in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Israel and the Sunni Arab states are likely to try to make nice with Washington, while hedging their bets by making deals with each other. That is not a worst-case scenario. But anyone who thinks it’s a situation that is likely to lead to a more stable, prosperous, and secure region in the near term is sadly mistaken.

James Carafano is a vice president and the research director for national security and foreign affairs for the Heritage Foundation. Adam Milstein is the co-founder and chairman emeritus with the Israeli American Council.