Campaign Against Antisemitism and ADL respond to The California Courier after Kluwe compared Israeli conduct to ‘Hitler’s playbook’
Two prominent antisemitism watchdog organizations condemned comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany in statements provided to the California Courier and highlighted Monday, following questions about former NFL punter and California Assembly candidate Chris Kluwe’s social media remarks accusing Israel of genocide and comparing its military conduct to Adolf Hitler.
Campaign Against Antisemitism addressed the use of Nazi comparisons in criticism of Israel, telling the California Courier that such comparisons constitute antisemitism under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition.
“Some people seem to be obsessed with comparing Israelis to Nazis, perhaps in an attempt to justify their own bigotry to themselves. The International (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism makes very clear that these sorts of comparisons are a grotesque distortion aimed simply at wounding Jews. This is antisemitism, pure and simple,” a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said.
The Anti-Defamation League also addressed Holocaust comparisons in a statement to the California Courier. ADL Orange County/Long Beach Regional Director Matt Friedman warned about harassment directed at Jewish candidates and the use of antisemitic rhetoric in political discourse.
“In this election cycle, Jewish candidates have been targeted with threats of violence and have faced harassment because of real or assumed connections to Israel, including accusations that they are genocidal or place the interests of Israel above the U.S. As election season draws to a close, we remind all California candidates that antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust analogies are unacceptable in all forms,” Friedman said.
Kluwe, a Democrat running for California’s 72nd Assembly District, made one of his most explicit comparisons in an April 2024 Bluesky post responding to then-President Joe Biden’s statement following the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.
“A statement would be cutting military aid to Israel until they stop following Hitler’s playbook,” Kluwe said.
The former Minnesota Vikings punter also defended his criticism of Israel in another April 2024 post, rejecting the characterization of such statements as antisemitic.
“It’s not anti-semitic to say that Israel should stop genociding a helpless population,” Kluwe said.
In August 2025, Kluwe again criticized Israel and the United States following reports that an Al Jazeera journalism team had been killed in Gaza City.
“Israel is a rogue state at this point and the US is not far behind,” Kluwe said.
The IHRA’s working definition, adopted by both organizations, identifies comparisons of contemporary Israeli policies to Nazi Germany as an example of potentially antisemitic rhetoric. The definition also specifies that criticism of Israel comparable to criticism directed at other countries is not inherently antisemitic.
Kluwe has previously invoked Nazi Germany in domestic political disputes. Fox News Digital reported that he compared the MAGA movement to Nazism during a February 2025 Huntington Beach City Council protest and reiterated the comparison during an appearance on CNN.
Kluwe’s Republican opponent, Huntington Beach Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark, has her own history involving the ADL. In 2018, the organization criticized her previous online remarks and associations. Van Der Mark has denied allegations of Holocaust denial.
She subsequently sponsored a 2023 resolution condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and supporting Israel and helped advance a 2024 partnership with Ramat Gan, Israel.
Van Der Mark’s campaign signs have been vandalized with spray paint reading “Israeli Sleeper Cell.”
The ADL addressed the vandalism in a separate statement to The California Courier.
“Vandalizing campaign signs with phrases such as ‘Israeli sleeper’ and ‘supporting genocide’ is nauseating and wrong. Such ugly claims reinforce antisemitic tropes and compound the hate already so prevalent in our politics. People of good faith in both parties should denounce this slander without hesitation,” Friedman said.
The California Courier also sought additional comment from the ADL’s national media office and Center on Extremism, directing its inquiry to Oren Segal and specifically requesting a response from ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
The Courier asked whether Kluwe’s comparison of Israeli military actions to “Hitler’s playbook” constituted antisemitism under the organization’s standards, whether the ADL’s position on Gracey Van Der Mark had changed since its 2018 criticism of her, and whether her subsequent support for Israel affected its assessment.
The ADL did not respond to those specific questions or provide a statement from Greenblatt by publication time.
Kluwe did not respond to a request for comment from The California Courier.
