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The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) congratulates ZOA National President Morton A. Klein for being reelected by an overwhelming majority to an unprecedented 12th term at ZOA’s triennial election yesterday evening. ZOA also congratulates all of ZOA’s other new officers – Chair Rubin Margules, Board Co-Vice Chairs Michael Orbach and Daniel Katz, Esq., Secretary Taffy Gould, Treasurer Bob Guzzardi, Esq., Associate Treasurer Bart Blatstein, additional Executive Committee member Tyler Korn, Esq. – and all the Board Vice Presidents and Board members who were overwhelmingly elected or re-elected yesterday evening. The slate headed by Mr. Klein, recommended by ZOA’s nomination committee, received approximately 90% of the vote. The newly elected/re-elected slate of officers and Board members will provide ZOA with thoughtful and dedicated leadership, as ZOA moves into the future.
Mr. Klein – who is widely known as one of America’s leading Jewish activists – is the longest-serving president of the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. Past ZOA presidents include Justice Louis D. Brandeis, and Rabbis Stephen Wise and Abba Hillel Silver. ZOA’s courageous positions during Mr. Klein’s tenure – including successfully battling to obtain Jewish students’ rights to civil rights law protections; and opposing the disastrous Oslo Accords, Gaza withdrawal and 2022 deal surrendering Israeli maritime territory to Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon – have repeatedly proven to be prescient. Mr. Klein established the ZOA Center for Law and Justice, headed by Susan Tuchman, Esq; the ZOA Center for Campus Activities, headed by Jonathan Ginsburg; and the ZOA Center for Government Relations in Washington, D.C., headed by Dan Pollak.
Mr. Klein has won numerous awards, including, recently, the 2022 World Zionist Organization award in Basel, Switzerland; the 2024 WZO, Jewish Peoples Challenges and Zionist General Council’s joint award making Morton Klein an Honorary Fellow of the Zionist Movement due to “his blessed activity over many years in the institutions of the Zionist Movement and to his great contribution to the dissemination of its ideas”; and the Theodor Herzl Award.
Mr. Klein’s numerous recognitions include The Forward naming Morton Klein as one of the top five most influential Jewish leaders in America; the Wall Street Journal calling ZOA, “the most credible Jewish organization in America”; and the New York Times, in a major profile of Mr. Klein called Public Lives, writing that “Klein is a prolific speechmaker and Congressional lobbyist and was a rare voice from the outset in the American Jewish community against the Oslo peace Accords and the Gaza withdrawal.”
Mr. Klein has published over 400 articles in publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Jerusalem Post, Israel Hayom, the Journal of Epidemiology and the Journal of Preventative Medicine (Mr. Klein published these scientific articles when he worked for two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine and the UCLA School of Public Health). He’s also delivered over 500 lectures at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Brown, Columbia, Penn, Hebrew University, Jewish Federation, Israel Bonds and synagogue events, and more. He’s also appeared on numerous TV shows including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, Newsmax, and more.
ZOA was established in 1897, attended the first World Zionist Congress, and played important roles in obtaining international legal recognition of the Jewish people’s rights to the Jewish homeland. Under the leadership of Mr. Klein and ZOA’s other officers and Board members and staff, and with the help of all of ZOA’s friends, today ZOA continues to promote and defend the rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and to security and safety throughout the world, especially including on U.S. campuses.
Concerningly, two FBI special agents came to Mort’s home a few days ago to inform him that he and ZOA are on an Iranian cyber-terror cell’s enemies list. Iran’s cyber-attack attempts against innocent American citizens, and attempts to kill innocent American citizens – including former President Trump and many Trump officials including Ambassador John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien – underscore the pressing need for the Biden-Harris administration to immediately reimpose maximum sanctions on Iran to cripple Iran’s ability to wreak terror, cyber-damage and havoc around the world and in the United States homeland.
Election meeting attendees also discussed brief reports on ZOA’s non-partisan voting project to encourage and assist Americans living in Israel to vote in the upcoming 2024 U.S. elections; and ZOA Coalition’s excellent progress towards the upcoming 2025 World Zionist Congress elections. The ZOA Coalition has an amazing record of leading the battles at the World Zionist Congress. The ZOA Coalition now includes almost 20 of the leading, strong American pro-Israel organizations. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in joining with the ZOA Coalition.
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