| History: Founded in 1897
to support the re-establishment of a Jewish State, its past
presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver. While the ZOA has an honorable
pedigree, sometime after 1973 the group became radically committed
to revisionist Zionism and came to support the idea of forcibly
transferring all Palestinian Arabs out of Israel.
Ideology: Resolutely Anti-Palestinian
Noted For: Crusades against US political appointees
as well as academics it deems unacceptable. It also has
campaigned to pass the Koby Mandell Act, a bill to establish
an anti-Palestinian arm of the Justice Department.
Key Leaders: Morton Klein, the president who has
taken home more than $100,000 a year since 1999 from this
"nonprofit", Jacques Torczyner, Michael Orbach,
Janice Sokolovshy
Money from Moskowitz's Bingo: $651,000 between 1994
and 2001.
More Information:
The Zionist Organization of America long-time president
Morton Klein said his organization "made [its] reputation"
under the Rabin and Peres governments of Israel. Distinguishing
itself by its anti-peace diatribes, ZOA brags: "The
issues that the ZOA deals with, which include monitoring
U.S. appointments...that affect Jews in Israel and monitoring
Arafat's anti-peace behavior, have nothing to do with which
Israeli government is in power," he said in a Forward
article.
Lately, the ZOA has taken a stance to the right of Israeli
premiere Ariel Sharon. It has come out strongly against
the Bush Administration's recent Middle East Road Map, and
according to Jewish Week, the ZOA has vowed to work with
Christian and Jewish groups and members of Congress to oppose
any increase in US aid to the Palestinian Authority.
ZOA's crusades against political appointees included a
very public and contentious campaign against Assistant Secretary
of State for Near East Affairs Martin Indyk's decision to
hire Joseph Zogby, a young lawyer and the son of longtime
Arab-American leader James Zogby. ZOA has taken aim at more
obscure targets, including non-Jewish experts on the Holocaust.
The group also has championed the Koby Mandell Act, a bill
that would create a special office within the Justice Department
which would: gather evidence against Palestinian Arab killers
of Americans; arrange to bring the terrorists to the U.S.
for trial; and initiate negotiations with the Palestinian
Authority for financial compensation for victims' families.
Some Jewish groups have cautioned against singling out certain
categories of Americans for special treatment (ie - American
Jews) in the war against terrorism
Read articles about the Zionist Organization of America:
Zionists to display "Wanted"
posters for alleged terrorists
Israeli-Palestinian debate provokes
heated discussion
Israel-Diaspora Ties Set for
Turbulence No Matter Who Wins Next Week's Vote
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