ADL debated ending police program in "Israel" over fears of increased brutality

By Al Mayadeen net
Source: Agencies
17 Mar 2022 14:52

Executives are questioning whether trips to "Israel" could make US officers "more likely to use force."

Israeli police officers stand guard during a protest

According to a 2020 document, senior leaders of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US-based organization claiming it combats antisemitism and tracks extremism, debated whether to end a controversial program that connects American law enforcement officers with Israeli police leaders and military members

For years, the ADL, which works closely with US police on bias and hate crimes training, has sent delegations from US law enforcement departments to "Israel" to “study first-hand Israel’s tactics and strategies to combat terrorism."

The excursions have long been criticized by civil rights organizations in the United States, who claim that the training might push US police to further militarize their forces and worsen police brutality.

According to a draft document acquired by The Guardian and Jewish Currents, two ADL officials questioned if the travels would make American policemen "more likely to use force" and add to the "problem" of police violence during the George Floyd demonstrations in 2020. They pondered campaigning for the program's abolition.

ADL senior vice President George Selim wrote that “in light of the very real police brutality at the hands of militarized police forces in the US, we must ask ourselves difficult questions, like whether we are contributing to the problem,” while the VP of Law Enforcement and Analysis Greg Ehrie, wrote, “We must ask ourselves why it is necessary for American police, enforcing American laws, would need to [sic] meet with members of the Israeli military. We must ask ourselves if, upon returning home, those we train are more likely to use force. We hope that that is not accurate.”

According to the paper, the ADL has taken 500 to 600 police personnel and partners to "Israel" for "educational and training purposes" since 2004. The VPS stated that the visits "built bonds" among police officers but were "of questionable programmatic value." They claimed that the initiative might result in "lost donor revenue" and cost the ADL up to $200,000 per year in staff work, including resources to "defend the trips from controversy." The draft document also stated that it was unclear whether the training encouraged police to confront antisemitism.

According to the draft document, ending the program would be the best way to eliminate a program with "limited impact and high controversy."

Selim and Ehrie reported that after a "thorough assessment", it was best that the program continued with "updated curriculum content."

The ADL and other police departments in the US have been forced to ask themselves tough questions following the brutal murder of George Floyd.

Activists have launched a campaign dubbed Deadly Exchange to criticize the ADL's "Israel" travels. A collection of activist organizations, including the Movement for Black Lives, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, started a Drop the ADL campaign in 2020, citing its ties to law enforcement.

The ADL has dismissed the protests and claimed activists misrepresent the program.

Bill Ayub, the Ventura county sheriff in California, revealed that during his ADL training in "Israel", he was "impressed" by invasive Israeli surveillance systems.

Those same systems were found to have been hacking the mobile phones of countless journalists and officials as well as activists.

Pegasus

Speaking of the excessive force used by Israeli occupation forces, Ayub said, “We’d be in jail if we did something like that here."

The New York Times reported that the number of people killed by US police officers has not decreased since George Floyd and Daunte Wright's murders in 2020, knowing that many US police violence cases go unreported or misclassified in official records.