Update: Subsequent to this letter being made public, Ralph Nader responded in an August 5, 2004 letter to ADL.
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New York, NY, July 2, 2004 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today objected to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's characterization of the White House and Congress as being "puppets" of the Israeli government and Israel lobby in the United States.

In a letter to Mr. Nader, Barbara B. Balser, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said:

We write to object to your characterization of the White House and Congress as "puppets" of the Israeli government.  Reasonable people can and do disagree with American policy related to the Middle East, and specifically American support for Israel. 

 

However, there is a line between thoughtful, reasoned, constructive disagreements and offensive hyperbole.  Indeed, one may disagree with America's Middle East approach, but to assert that U.S. policy in such a complex and volatile region is the product of wholesale manipulation by a foreign government fails to take into account important U.S. interests that are involved.  Moreover, the image of the Jewish State as a "puppeteer," controlling the powerful U.S. Congress feeds into many age-old stereotypes which have no place in legitimate public discourse.   

 

We would have hoped that you might have made a more positive contribution to this issue.