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It is no secret that Jew hatred continues to permeate American public education. In the latest instance—caught only by happenstance—an elementary school principal thought he’d ended a phone message to a parent only to give voice to a vicious antisemitic rant that was caught on the parent’s voicemail.
Philip Leddy has served as principal of Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, since the fall of 2023. Last week, Leddy placed a call and left a message for a local father who has two children attending the school regarding an email the father had sent regarding his daughter.
An audio recording of the message reveals Leddy politely identifying himself and leaving a quick message, followed by a click where he intended to hang up the phone. Then the drama begins.
Leddy starts speaking about the father, who is a personal acquaintance of his, to a female office staffer, explaining that their children both go to the same summer camp which he calls a “Jew camp.” Leddy claims that “everyone at the camp hates the family” and the father is a “hot head” who frequently “blows up” at people. Those statements would be bad enough, but Leddy takes it much further.
The office staffer asks what the father’s profession is. Leddy replies that he’s not sure, the father “shows up in sweats and stuff” but “It doesn’t matter they have that Jew money,” adding, “they control the banks, y’know.”
After receiving this outrageous diatribe against both his person and his faith, the father, who wishes to remain anonymous, first called the school board and then marched over to Leddy’s office to confront him in person.
“I asked him if the misunderstanding was about my Jew money, the Jew this, Jew that. And the color from his face just disappeared, he couldn’t believe he was caught, and he was apologetic,” the father told a local news channel.
The school district claims that Leddy “self-reported” his antisemitic comments and acknowledged that they were inappropriate, but the father maintains that he reported it first and Leddy only admitted it once he knew he’d been caught.
“His rhetoric was just too easy; he chose the lowest form of like antisemitism,” the father said, describing the casual way Leddy threw around terms like “Jew camp” and “Jew money.”
To its credit, the Wissahickon School District acted quickly, putting Leddy immediately on administrative leave and recommending him for termination. His biography was also removed from the school’s website. The female staffer who engaged in the recorded conversation with Leddy was also placed on leave.
“We are truly shocked and sickened that a school leader trusted with the safety and well-being of students and staff would speak this way,” Wissahickon Superintendent Dr. Mwenyewe Dawan said.
Astoundingly, prior to serving as Principal of Lower Gwynedd, Leddy had served the school district in another capacity—as the Committee Chair for its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. That revelation lends credence to the charge that DEI promotes discrimination against disfavored minority groups, while granting special privileges to others. According to Leddy’s now-deleted school biography, “[he] prides himself on developing, supporting and maintaining a positive school culture that emphasizes belongingness and collaboration.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia issued a scathing statement about the incident, noting that Leddy’s words “rely on well-known antisemitic stereotypes that reduce a parent to caricature and signal hostility rather than respect.”
“In conversation with others in the office, he used antisemitic phrases, including references to ‘Jew camp,’ allegations that the parent has ‘Jew money,’ and the claim that ‘they [Jews] control the banks.’ At one point, when asked whether the parent was a lawyer, he responded, ‘the odds probably are good,’” described the Jewish Federation. “These are deeply rooted antisemitic tropes that have historically been used to demean, marginalize, and endanger Jewish people.”
“I do not believe the actions and words of this principal reflect the views of our staff entirely,” Superintendent Dawan told a local news channel. “One person’s hateful actions should not negatively impact the way our community views the rest of our staff.”
But as many have pointed out, Leddy was not ranting solely to himself—he was speaking to a junior staff member and seemed assured that his Jew hatred would receive a positive reception.
“This incident points to a broader, systemic issue,” wrote the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. “The presence of others in the room, the lack of challenge or interruption, and the comfort with which these remarks were spoken raise serious questions about culture, accountability, and oversight within the school environment.”
