A day before the assembly, the ADL, which had worked with caucus leaders over the past year, told Jewish Insider<\/a> that it was \u201cextremely frustrated about a so-called \u2018agreement\u2019 with JCPA that was reached without all NEA JAC leadership and delegates at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n It also took aim at union leaders: \u201cNEA\u2019s inconsistent enforcement of its own protections has sent an unmistakable message: Jewish educators are not a priority. That must change now.\u201d<\/p>\n Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, pushed back on the ADL\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you can\u2019t criticize substance, you find reasons to criticize process,\u201d Spitalnick said in an interview. \u201cIn this case, we\u2019re both very proud of the substance and the process, and the results underscore that.\u201d<\/p>\n JCPA has emphasized working directly with school leaders and public officials to combat antisemitism, and opposed the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown<\/a> on campus pro-Palestinian protests.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is both possible and necessary to fight antisemitism \u2014 on campus, in our communities, and across the country \u2014 without abandoning the democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many other vulnerable minorities, to thrive,\u201d the group wrote in an April 2025 joint statement<\/a> condemning the crackdown.<\/p>\n That letter spurred behind the scenes pushback<\/a> from another legacy group, the Jewish Federations of North America.<\/p>\n The ADL, meanwhile, has taken on a more confrontational approach to universities, assigning them \u201creport cards\u201d for campus antisemitism<\/a> and also empowering Jewish educators to advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n Notably, progressive-leaning groups like the JCPA and centrist groups like the ADL and the JFNA flip strategies when it comes to addressing Trump administration policies that undercut Jewish civil rights advocacy. The centrist groups have at times retreated from confrontation with the government, while the JCPA has been more directly critical<\/a>. In one instance, the JCPA was more outspoken about a Trump administration attack on the ADL than the ADL was<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are absolutely those on the right who think that we should just be burning it all down, and that is not an approach that\u2019s going to make you safer or democracy safer,\u201d Spitalnick said. \u201cWe believe deeply that the only path forward is one that confronts antisemitism wherever it exists, and does so in a way that recognizes our safety as Jews is tied to our democratic institutions, which includes unions and public education.\u201d<\/p>\n Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick (C), speaks at an event held by Jewish and Muslim leaders on Capitol Hill on December 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The ADL and the JCPA found common cause last year after the NEA delegates narrowly passed a measure barring the union from using, endorsing or publicizing<\/a> any materials from the ADL, which boasts a comprehensive library of anti-bias education materials. (The measure was ultimately rejected by the NEA\u2019s board of directors<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The JCPA at that time signed onto a letter<\/a> led by the ADL describing \u201cdeep concerns about the growing level of antisemitic activity within teachers\u2019 unions,\u201d including reports that Jewish teachers were verbally accosted during the proceedings.<\/p>\n The harassment, including a reported case of NEA members appearing to cheer at a mention of the 2025 attack on a march for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado<\/a>, during the convention last year, last month sparked a new antisemitism investigation<\/a> into NEA by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Shira Goodman, the ADL\u2019s vice president of advocacy, said in an interview the group \u201cimmediately had to take an adversarial advocacy position to address\u201d last year\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n The ADL centered its approach on engaging with Jewish teachers who had sought their help, including the incoming president of the Jewish Affairs Caucus. Goodman said that while the ADL had \u201csome ongoing conversations with leaders at the NEA,\u201d the bulk of its advocacy had been to \u201csupport teachers who are doing their own advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWorking just with leadership wasn\u2019t going to do it, but we also wanted to be there to support grassroots folks who felt like they wanted to be and remain within their union,\u201d Goodman said.<\/p>\n Goodman added that she did not feel that JCPA and the ADL were working \u201cin tandem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJCPA has said publicly that they have relationships with AFT, with NEA. Different organizations in the Jewish community have different lanes and do different things,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cI just want to make sure that the teachers are represented, and that if somebody is speaking for the teachers, that the teachers have been part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaks onstage ADL\u2019s Never Is Now at Javits Center on March 03, 2025 in New York City. (Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for Anti-Defamation League)<\/p>\n Spitalnick said JCPA had engaged with JAC leadership and other Jewish organizations, including the ADL, throughout the negotiations with NEA. Last year, JCPA also led a workshop at NEA\u2019s annual convention about antisemitism.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I could speak to is our approach, which has been to \u2014 instead of hammering the union with constant critique and framing a sort of zero sum dynamic in which it\u2019s the union versus the Jewish community \u2014 making clear that the union\u2019s success and Jewish safety, inclusion, are one in the same right, and that has led to the partnership we have with NEA,\u201d Spitalnick said.<\/p>\n The ADL and other legacy groups have in the past expressed qualified support for Trump administration disciplinary actions targeting educational institutions. Spitalnick was adamant that was the wrong course, including in the most recent government investigation into the NEA.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question that everyone should be asking is what is motivating this, and at a time when we\u2019re seeing \u2013 whether it be Republicans in Congress or others \u2014 use our real fears of antisemitism to fundamentally try to kill the unions by going after their charter and their fundamental existence, I would ask real questions about the motivation for this investigation,\u201d Spitalnick said.<\/p>\n The ADL, meanwhile, wrote in a post on X<\/a> that the federal government\u2019s investigation \u201cunderscores what many Jewish educators have been saying for the last two years: no union member should be made to feel excluded, targeted, or unwelcome because of a core part of their identity.\u201d<\/p>\n Alyson Brauning, the outgoing chair of the Jewish Affairs Caucus, who had collaborated with JCPA ahead of the convention, said the difference between this year\u2019s conference earlier this month and last was \u201cnight and day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI actually got to enjoy parts of the [Representative Assembly],\u201d Brauning said. \u201cOur table did not experience any harassment or intimidation in the hall at all. It was actually enjoyable and fun, and we got to do the business of the RA on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/jcpa.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/adl.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nea.jpg\")
<\/p>\n