Abraham H. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor whose 50-year tenure battling anti-Semitism made him one of the visible and influential leaders of the American Jewish community, announced on Monday that he will retire next year as national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. Foxman, who has headed the organization since 1987, played a central role in most of the major controversies involving Israel and the Jewish community in recent years, and has stirred up a few of his own. He was frequently lionized as a forceful defender of Jews and Israel, but periodically criticized as too quick to call criticism of Israel anti-Semitic and too hesitant to label the early 20th-century killings of Armenians in Turkey as genocide.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Foxman, 73, said he was ready for a change.

“Fifty years is long enough to be in one place, and I’m still vibrant enough to do a couple of other things,” he said. “I hope I’ll be able to continue to have a voice, and to speak on the issues I’ve dealt all my life with.”

A frequent guest in the White House and confidant of Israeli leaders, Mr. Foxman was a key proponent of strong Israeli-American relations.