Director Emeritus, ADL
Abraham H. Foxman is world-renowned as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination. Mr. Foxman regularly speaks out on issues of global anti-Semitism, the war on terror, church/state issues, religious intolerance and issues relating to the Holocaust and Israel. He is a passionate supporter of the State of Israel and a voice for peace in the Middle East.
Mr. Foxman is National Director Emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). He retired from ADL in 2015, having served a total of 50 years with the organization, including serving as National Director from 1987 through July 2015.
He is currently Director and Chairman of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City, Visiting Lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Foxman is the co-author of Viral Hate (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and author of Jews & Money: The Story of a Stereotype (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) and is first book He is also the autho Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003).
During his long career, Mr. Foxman had direct consultations with world leaders in Europe, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, Japan, South Africa, Argentina and elsewhere, and with Palestinian leaders, on problems of ethnic hatred, violence, terrorism and promoting democracy. He had multiple audiences with Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and has conferred with U.S. Presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, as well as with Members of Congress.
A Holocaust survivor, Mr. Foxman was a member of the President’s United States Holocaust Memorial Council, appointed by Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton. He has been a member of official Presidential delegations to special events in Europe and Israel.
Born in Poland in 1940, Mr. Foxman was saved from the Holocaust by his Polish Catholic nursemaid who baptized and raised him as a Catholic during the war years. His parents survived the war, but 14 members of his family were lost. He arrived in America in 1950 with his parents. A graduate of the Yeshiva of Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, he has a B.A. in political science from the City College of the City University of New York, graduating with honors in history. He holds a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law, and did graduate work in advanced Judaic studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary and in international economics at The New School for Social Research.
