ADL CEO: 'Genius' Behind Pager Attack Needed to Fight Antisemitism

Young victim of Israel’s pager attack tells Iraqi TV “I was playing on my phone at home. I heard the pager ring, I didn't know that sound. I grabbed it, and I barely had time to press OK before it exploded”

When Biden officials make pager jokes, this is what they’re laughing at: pic.twitter.com/6dWONulNwr

— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) January 10, 2025

WATCH: ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt says the kind of "genius" behind the pager attack on Lebanon is now needed to fight antisemitism.

He said this in a speech to the Israeli Knesset just days ago.

Is this a terroristic threat? pic.twitter.com/RcW0jUlltX

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) January 13, 2025

[According to Greenblatt,] Israel's backers need to think like Israeli spies who secretly installed bombs in electronics all over Lebanon, killing dozens and wounding thousands.

"We need the kind of genius that manufactured Apollo Gold Pagers and infiltrated Hezbollah for over a decade to prepare for this battle," Greenblatt said. "This is the kind of ingenuity and inventiveness that have always been a hallmark of the State of Israel, that have always been a characteristic of the Jewish people. I know we can do it."

"Nobody likes to admit when they've fallen short. I don't like to lose. I personally hate to lose. However, sometimes we need to acknowledge the reality, and I believe it takes confidence to express humility," he said. "What I learned from working in Silicon Valley, it's OK to fail as long as you fail forward and learn from it. So that's what needs to happen now."

[...]

"Otherwise, as Einstein said, we'll be doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It's the definition of insanity. So starting with ADL and the rest of the NGO sector in the U.S. and around the world, we've got to start doing things differently. And the same goes here in Israel. This means that the problem won't be solved by yet another new Knesset task force. It won't be solved by the government just throwing money at the problem. It won't be solved by the IDF spokesperson's unit issuing updated talking points or suddenly using TikTok. Like us in America, you need to adopt new strategies to experiment with creative tactics to study the results and scale what works," he said. "We need the kind of genius that manufactured Apollo Gold Pagers and infiltrated Hezbollah for over a decade to prepare for this battle. We need the kind of courage that executed Operation Deep Layer inside Syria and destroyed Iranian missile manufacturing capabilities to undertake this mission. This is the kind of ingenuity and inventiveness that have always been a hallmark of the State of Israel, that have always been a characteristic of the Jewish people. I know we can do it."

WATCH: ADL CEO Greenblatt tells the Israeli govt how important it is to "capture" TikTok.

"Capturing TikTok might seem less meaningful than holding on to Mount Hermon...but this is urgent because the next war will be decided based on how Israel and its allies perform online." pic.twitter.com/dGGXqCMezK

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) January 13, 2025