In December 2016 he was criticized for accepting an award from the controversial Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank led by Frank Gaffney, which was designated as a hate group by the SPLC. The SPLC encouraged Dermer to decline the award because it "not only further legitimizes this organization, but could be read as an endorsement of anti-Muslim hate by the Israeli government." For his part, in his acceptance speech, Dermer criticized the SPLC for calling Gaffney, Daniel Pipes, Maajid Nawaz, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and others anti-Muslim extremists. During his speech Dermer described "militant Islam" as a "virulent ideology now ascendant in the Muslim world".