Nearly 4,000 attendees are expected to pack the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan on March 3-4 for the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Never Is Now summit at a contentious moment, as the global Jewish community contends with historic levels of antisemitism and political fault lines exacerbated by a second Trump administration. 

“Indeed, you’ve seen us speak up when we think elected officials or political figures have gotten it wrong and you’ve seen us praise them when we think they get it right. So we’re watching the Trump administration very closely,” the group’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, told Jewish Insider in a joint interview — together with KIND Snacks founder and former CEO Daniel Lubetzky — one week ahead of the ADL’s signature event. 

Lubetzky, who sold KIND for $5 billion in 2020 — but emphasized that it’s not unusual to still find him handing out the fruit and nut bars — now leads several ventures, including the creation of a platform called “Builders,” a “movement to build a future where flexible thinkers and problem-solvers — ‘Builders’ — counteract the destructive effects of extreme views.” He also is on the board of OneVoice Movement, whose objective is to build ties between Jews and Arabs in Israel and between Israelis and Palestinians, and is a “Shark” on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” He is slated to receive the ADL’s Courage Against Hate Award at the summit.

Greenblatt praised President Donald Trump for several actions that he has taken in the month since returning to the White House. “The executive order on antisemitism was incredibly important. The new task force by the DOJ is important. It shows the full force of the Justice Department is on this issue. And the announcement of investigating universities is also incredibly important. They are demonstrating a proactive posture and one that is appropriately aggressive,” he said. 

“There may be things related to the fight against antisemitism that we disagree with, and as appropriate we’ll call that out. Right now we’re pleased by some of the early signs that relate to fighting antisemitism.” 

But Greenblatt didn’t shy away from calling out other recent displays of antisemitism around the globe. 

He was quick to condemn former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who last week sparked controversy at the CPAC conference with a gesture resembling a Nazi salute. “He’s been open in celebrating a whole spectrum of right-wing extremists we find incredibly problematic,” Greenblatt told JI. 

“Mocking the concern of people who are concerned by the rise of extremism is a real problem. Diminishing the legitimate considerations of people in Europe or America who are alarmed by this intensification of extremism is really alarming. I’m not surprised to see him doing those things and I hope he’ll do better.” 

When Elon Musk made a similar gesture at Trump’s inauguration last month, the ADL defended him, but later condemned his series of Nazi jokes on social media. 

The ADL chief executive also expressed concern over the far-right party Alternative for Germany — which has been plagued by antisemitism, with some of its members embracing Holocaust denial or minimization — surging to second place in Germany’s elections over the weekend. Greenblatt said on that issue, he looks “to the leadership of the German Jewish community,” adding, “their concerns are shared by us.”  

On the decision to honor Lubetzky — who previously served on the ADL’s board of directors — Greenblatt described the entrepreneur as “a person who has had extraordinary success in the business community, has a significant public profile and he’s choosing to focus his attention on how we use entrepreneurship and investment to spearhead outcomes in the Middle East.” 

“It’s very important for all CEOs to have zero tolerance towards any act of antisemitism,” Lubetzky told JI. “We need to be much more focused as a Jewish community on bringing out our universalistic goals to make this a better world within the context of also understanding our goals to fight hate against Jews.” 

Lubetzky intends to translate his success in entrepreneurship into combating antisemitism and peacebuilding in the Middle East through multiple avenues; beginning with, he said, investing in Israeli start-ups through the investment platform he launched in 2023, Camino Partners. He also pointed to a project he developed several years ago called the Builder’s Blueprint. “The methodology is to address how to find a way to rebuild Gaza in a way that the keys are handed to the builders and not the destroyers,” Lubetzky said.

“What I do know is following Oct. 7, it’s time to say what needs to be said — speak upfront about the issues, don’t be diluted,” Lubetzky told JI. “Support builders and make sure you stand up against destroyers. A lot of people are committing their lives to building, but the problem I noticed is a lot of people think you either need to fight the bad guys or build bridges. We need to do both.”