ZOA’s Mort Klein Quoted: After a Tense Call, Jewish Umbrella Group Says It Remains ‘Distressed’ with Sen. Schumer’s Call for Elections in Israel

By Ron Kampeas

(March 19, 2024) An umbrella group for large Jewish organizations said it remained “distressed” after a call with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who sought to explain his bombshell speech last week calling for new elections in Israel and saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “lost his way.”

Schumer, the majority leader and most senior Jewish elected official in U.S. history, asked for the call with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations after a flurry of pushback from some Jewish groups. The backlash also came from Republicans and Netanyahu, who said Schumer’s speech on the Senate floor last week was “totally inappropriate.”

A number of questions Schumer fielded were supportive of his remarks, and one participant said the meeting was not tense and was a good conversation. A number of liberal-leaning groups said the day after the call that the Conference of Presidents had erred in putting out a condemnatory statement.

But many questions were contentious, people on the call shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“I was listening to see if he’ll give me an argument that maybe I don’t agree with but understand better,” said Mort Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, a conservative group that has been critical of Biden’s approach. “To see if it makes sense for someone to do what he did even though I disagree with it. But he failed. He just repeated what he said last week...”

The exchange captured the establishment Jewish community’s stunned reaction to anguished criticism of Israel from one its longest-standing stalwarts. Schumer’s speech made tangible the growing alienation between Israel and the Democrats, which serves as the political home for most American Jews. The party — and President Joe Biden — have grown increasingly critical of Israel’s war effort in Gaza nearly six months after Hamas launched the conflict with its Oct. 7 invasion. Biden is also facing pressure, ahead of the November election, from progressive voters who oppose his support of Israel.

A key concern on the call, the Conference of Presidents’ leadership said in a statement, was Schumer’s warning that the United States may use “leverage” to change Israel’s course.

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