ADL chief announces 2015 resignation

Abe Foxman to step down from Jewish anti-discrimination organization after 27 years as director

By ToI Staff 10 February 2014, 10:51 pm 1

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Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, speaking at the ADL Centennial Summit in Washington, April 29, 2013. (David Karp/via JTA)

The head of the Anti-Defamation League announced on Monday he would be stepping down next year after 27 years as the national director.

Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement that he would resign his position in July 2015, ending 50 years at the Jewish right group.

“For almost five decades, ADL offered me the perfect vehicle to live a life of purpose both in standing up on behalf of the Jewish people to ensure that what happened during World War II would never happen again and in fighting bigotry and all forms of oppression,” Foxman said. “My years at ADL, particularly the 27 spent as National Director, could not have been more rewarding.”

Foxman was a child Holocaust survivor who immigrated with his parents to the US after the war. He started working with the ADL in 1965 and became national director in 1987. He announced his retirement to members of the League’s National Executive Committee during an annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.