Zionist Organization of America

The ZOA was initially founded in 1897 as the Federation of American Zionists (FAZ),[8] an amalgam of Hebrew societies, Chovevei Zion, and Jewish nationalist clubs that all endorsed the Basle programme of the First Zionist Congress. Initially founded as an organization for the greater New York area, the FAZ was established as a national organization at a conference in New York the next year where the constitution was adopted by the delegates with Richard Gottheil elected as president and Stephen S. Wise as honorary secretary.[9] The FAZ was meant to support the founding of the 'Jewish National Home in Palestine'. Along with its sister organization, Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America, founded 1912, as well as the Labor Zionist Po'ale Zion parties, and the Religious Zionist Mizrachi, the ZOA served as one of the key voices in early American Zionism. Their voice was limited however, since most American Jews and the organized American Jewish Committee were initially strong opponents of the Zionist movement, and worried, with their assimilationist views, about charges of 'dual loyalty', a common antisemitic canard.

In 1917, the FAZ was renamed as the ZOA.

When the secular "people's lawyer" Louis Brandeis became involved in the movement in 1912, just before World War I, Zionism started gaining significant support.[10] By 1917, Brandeis' leadership had increased American Zionist membership ten times to 200,000 members, and "American Jewry thenceforth became the financial center for the world Zionist movement,"[11] greatly surpassing its previous European base of support. In addition, during the early years of World War I, he and others established the American Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs to run Zionist affairs on behalf of the worldwide Zionist Organization, which had been rendered largely impotent because its members were divided by allegiance to the different sides in the conflict.[12]

The Zionist Organization of America was instrumental in mobilizing the support of the U.S. government, Congress, and the American public for the creation of Israel in 1948. Former ZOA presidents during the period included Brandeis, Louis Lipsky, Daniel Frisch, Stephen Samuel Wise, and Abba Hillel Silver.

In 1949 the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the ZOA under the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act after the organization solicited supporters to accelerate technology transfers to Jews in Palestine. On February 25, 1948, the ZOA was ordered to register as a foreign agent. After a series of conferences with the US Attorney General, the ZOA changed its constitution and "affected a change in the constitution of the World Zionist Organization in an effort to remove itself from agency status. As a result, all attempts to procure the registration of the subject organization were dropped."[13]

Following the founding of Israel, and to unify Jewish representation with the executive branch of US government, the ZOA became a charter member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.[14] ZOA was historically a liberal Zionist group, though it has since become right-wing.[15]

In January 2018, ZOA president Mort Klein went on a paid trip to Qatar to meet with the Emir, at his invitation; he also met with a number of senior officials. The visit was strongly criticized by some supporters of Israel,[27][28] and according to Mother Jones magazine, the trip coincided with a softening of the ZOA's stance regarding that country.[29] Shortly after Klein's trip to Qatar, he expressed to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz a new attitude about dialogue with Qatar.[30] In a subsequent March 2018 interview, Klein praised Qatar for flying an Israeli flag at a recent handball tournament and said the Emir told him that "last summer they stopped funding terrorist groups."[29]

On June 19, 2018, Mother Jones reported that Qatar had donated $100,000 to the ZOA through lobbyist Joey Allaham,[31] who also invited former Qatari diplomat Ahmed Al-Rumaihi to ZOA's annual gala on November 17.[29][32] Allaham's role in the payments to ZOA from Qatar were revealed when a judge ruled that he had to hand over his records of ties to that country.[33][34][35][36] On June 21, Allaham told the Jerusalem Post that he is "proud of the work that Mort Klein has done and all the other Jewish leaders working in collaboration with the Emir and other members of the Qatari Royal Family."[37] ZOA returned the contributions after they were found to not have come Allaham personally.[38]

The ZOA and its President Morton Klein are active voices against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, having once even spoken to the issue in an address to the Israeli Knesset.[43]

Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting the Zionist Organization of America released a sprawling press release about the need to combat anti-Semitism in all forms. Klein is quoted in the release stating: " It is time to wake up, and for the leaders of all Jewish organizations, Christian and Muslim organizations, local and national government, university and media leaders and social media professionals to meet and join together, and to join with ZOA, in condemning, clamping down on, and countering the daily anti-Semitic activities that the world remains largely silent about, and the evil lies spread against Jews and the Jewish state that are feeding into an atmosphere that encourages and legitimizes attacks on Jews. ZOA urges President Trump to make a major public address on anti-Semitism and bigotry, and quickly fill the post of the head of the government department responsible for fighting anti-Semitism."[44]

The Zionist Organization presents the 'Defender of Israel' award annually to those who have made major contributions in strengthening U.S.-Israel Relations. US National Security Adviser John Bolton was presented with the Defender of Israel award on November 5, 2018.[45]

The ZOA sent a letter on Tuesday to two major groups that represent teaching instructors nationwide regarding the seven-year-old case of Rutgers University in New Jersey allowing discrimination against Jewish students. ZOA national president Morton Klein and Susan Tuchman, director of the ZOA's Center for Law and Justice, wrote to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Rudy Fichtenbaum, president of the American Association of University Professors, in response to their criticism on Oct. 12 of the U.S. Department of Education reopening the Rutgers case in September. “We are currently living in a period when racist and xenophobic hatred is being seen more and more on college campuses,” wrote Weingarten and Fichtenbaum. “The events in Charlottesville, Va., during the summer of 2017 are seared in our memory, but the issue remains: Earlier this week, anti-Semitic fliers were plastered around the campus of University of California, Davis; Sacramento City College was defaced with swastikas; and the president of the United States continues to claim that George Soros is funding his opposition.[46]

The ZOA has called for academic and activist Marc Lamont Hill to be fired from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he teaches, and CNN, where he is a contributor, for his support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. “It's time for CNN and Temple University to fire Marc Lamont Hill, where Hill is a contributor and professor respectively,” said ZOA national president Mort Klein. “Hill has continued to promote Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan even after Farrakhan equated Jews to ‘termites’ on Facebook last week, and despite Farrakhan's unrepentant, lengthy, continuing history of making virulent anti-Semitic speeches, sermons and statements.” Klein cited that Hill posted the following on Instagram in 2016: “Been blessed to spend the last day with Minister Louis Farrakhan. An amazing time of learning, listening, laughing, and even head nodding to music. God is Great.” “Can you imagine the reaction if someone insisted on “amazing” “learning, listening and laughing” etc. with [Ku Klux Klan activist, and white supremacist and nationalist] David Duke? Such an individual would immediately be fired from every respectable media station and university in the country,” said Klein. “Shouldn't someone who praises and insists upon learning from, listening to and laughing together with hate-mongering Louis Farrakhan be treated similarly?”[47]