‘We Need to Wake Up’: Sylvan Adams Warns of Organized, Coordinated Antisemitism After Oct. 7

The protests began before the war did.

That, for Sylvan Adams, is the detail that should change how people understand everything that followed Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.

Speaking on The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast, the Canadian-Israeli philanthropist pointed to the anti-Israel demonstrations that erupted across Western cities on Oct. 8 — less than 24 hours after Hamas’s atrocities — as evidence that the global reaction was not simply emotional or spontaneous.

“Israel hadn’t even entered Gaza yet,” Adams said. “We were still counting our dead.”

The speed and coordination of those protests, he argued, suggest something deeper: a preexisting infrastructure of activism, funding, and ideology that was activated the moment the attacks occurred.

“It’s like they flicked a switch,” he said.

In Adams’ view, the surge of antisemitism that followed the Oct. 7 attack is not an isolated phenomenon, but the visible expression of a long-building system — one tied to Islamist movements, state-backed funding, and ideological allies across the West.

“We need to wake up,” he said.

At the same time, Adams was clear that the loudest voices are not the majority. Most people, he argued, are neither antisemitic nor deeply anti-Israel — but they are not organized, not activated, and not nearly as visible.

“The majority is there,” he said. “But they’re not activists.”

That imbalance has allowed more extreme narratives to dominate public discourse, particularly among younger audiences shaped by social media and campus environments.

Adams’ response to this challenge has not been confined to analysis.

A businessman who built his career in Canada before making aliyah a decade ago, he has become one of Israel’s most prominent philanthropists, directing major investments toward institutions in the country’s south.

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, he announced $100 million gifts to both Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center — moves he framed not as charity, but as long-term investments in Israel’s resilience.

The goal, he said, is not just to rebuild, but to reinforce.

Alongside those efforts, Adams has pursued a less conventional form of advocacy: using sports and culture to reshape how Israel is perceived abroad.

An accomplished cyclist and world champion in his age category, he has helped bring major international events to Israel, including global cycling races and high-profile appearances by figures such as Lionel Messi.

The strategy is to reach audiences that are not tuning in for politics — and introduce them to a different version of Israel.

“People are always surprised,” Adams said. “It’s not what they thought.”

That approach reflects a broader philosophy: that Israel must be strengthened not only on the ground, but in the way it is seen.

Adams’ worldview is rooted in his own family history. Born to Holocaust-surviving parents from Romania, whose journeys passed through pre-state Israel before settling in Canada, he grew up in a deeply Zionist home before eventually building a life in Montreal.

His decision to move to Israel later in life was, in his telling, less a break than a return.

“I always thought we would end up there,” he recalled his wife saying.

Now based in Israel, Adams has positioned himself as both a builder and a messenger —investing in the country’s future while trying to influence how it is understood beyond its borders.

His message to Jews outside Israel was direct.

“We’re one people,” he said. “Israel belongs to all of us.”

In the current moment, that idea carries added weight — not just as a statement of identity, but as a call to responsibility.