In a gut punch to the base, National Education Association leaders lickety-split dismissed a motion passed by a majority of the NEA’s 7,000 delegates not to partner with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for curriculum or professional development.

In a possible violation of the union’s Standing Rules, evidence suggests the leadership failed to solicit written rebuttals and oral presentations from dissenting state and local affiliate presidents. Instead, the Board of Directors seemingly rubber-stamped the NEA Executive Committee recommendation to not implement New Business Motion (NBI) (39), passed by the Representative Assembly (RA) on July 5th in Portland, Oregon.

All it took were a few hundred emails from the Israel lobby and an announcement from ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt—the guy who compared a keffiyeh to a Swastika—that he personally spoke to union President Becky Pringle to urge abandonment of the motion.

Those who wonder whether the Board’s decision will backfire need only read the full ADL statement, which suggests there will be more demands coming down the pike. In a finger-waving scold, the ADL statement adds that the NEA “must redouble efforts to ensure that Jewish educators are not isolated and subjected to antisemitism in their unions and that students are not subjected to it in the classroom.”