The Anti-Defamation League slammed comments by Dr. Mehmet Oz, accusing the Trump administration official of reinforcing antisemitic stereotypes and contributing to a climate of rising hostility toward Jewish communities.
In a statement and series of posts on X, the ADL highlighted excerpts from a two-week-old interview Oz gave to The Epoch Times program “American Thought Leaders,” in which he discussed healthcare fraud investigations in Minnesota. While attempting to argue that fraud is not confined to any single state, Oz singled out New York’s Chasidic Jewish community as an example.
“Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans’ is straight out of the antisemitic playbook,” the organization wrote. “This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination.”
Oz, who currently serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, made the remarks while discussing enforcement efforts against healthcare fraud. The ADL said that rather than offering a neutral comparison, Oz’s comments portrayed the Hasidic community in a prejudicial way, echoing long-standing tropes that depict religious Jews as outsiders or lawbreakers.
The civil rights group warned that such language carries real-world consequences, pointing to New York City’s reported 182 percent year-over-year increase in antisemitic hate crimes in January.
“Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which antisemitic attacks are rising,” the ADL said. “Words matter, and public officials must do better.”
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9 Responses
Yeah, it’s hateful to say that the chassidish community commits mass welfare fraud. Outrageous!
“I’m shocked—SHOCKED! To find gambling is going on in here!“
Imagine the fallout if someone said the blacks commit most of the violent crimes! It has become OK to criticize and vilify Jews. They don’t have to do it under the pretense of anti zionism anymore either, as they had to do only a short time ago. The situation is getting scarier and scarier by the day.
Blacks are responsible for most violent crimes. Go to the prisons and you will see.
This doctor himself is a fraud and isn’t a Doctor by any sense of the word
How come the ADL is not outraged when they talk about Somali fraud?? Notice how Dr Oz also mentions Russian and Chinese mobsters doing fraud. So now you have 4 groups- Somali, Russian, Chinese, and Hassdic Jews being blamed for healthcare fraud. This is not antisemtism more than blaming any other race group. So either be outraged at all the allegations or none of them!
It is OK to criticize government officials for inappropriate language, but we know that we live in the world that can turn against us. The best is not to provide reasons for haters and behave so that such accusations do not rise.
Fellow Yid, the ADL fights anti-Semistism, not anti Russian, nor anti-Somalian, nor anti-Chinese sentiments. Now, what proof does Dr. Oz have that Chassidishe Jews are committing Healthcare fraud? Perhaps you can enlighten us.
If phony “Hasidim” commit fraud, they need to repent, plain and simple, or else face heavy consequences. Shifting the blame on someone else is not an answer. As Rashi says in Devarim 25:17, the parsha of Vayavo Amaleik is next to (after) the parsha of middos umishkalos (the commandment of having proper weights in business – business integrity), teaching us that if people are deceitful in business then they need to be afraid of an enemy (and vice-versa is implied, if innocent, no need to fear).