ZOA Criticizes Pres. Obama for Not Attending International Anti-Islamic Terrorism Rally

NEW YORK, January 12, 2015 -- The ZOA has strongly criticized President Barak Hussein Obama for refusing to attend the massive four-million strong anti-Islamic terrorism rally in France. The rally was attended by dozens of national presidents and prime ministers from around the world, including the heads of France, Germany,  England, and Israel.

Not only did Pres. Obama refuse to attend, he did not even send Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Kerry, or Attorney General Holder who was in France for other meetings. Instead, he sent a major political Obama donor, the US ambassador to France to represent the United States.

What a disgrace - the most important international protest in history against the frightening and expanding scourge of Islamic terrorism and the US is essentially absent, AWOL.

By this action, Pres. Obama has humiliated and embarrassed all Americans in front of the whole world while sending the wrong message to Islamic murderers.

For shame, Mr. President, have you no decency. 

But, perhaps we should not be surprised by Pres. Obama's lack of participation:

1-  Pres. Obama has refused during his entire presidency to even use the term Islamic terrorism.  Instead he uses terms such as 'violent extremism' or 'workplace violence'. By refusing to name the enemy who is at war with the West, it makes it more difficult to focus on actions that need to be taken. France, England and other countries have publicly stated that we are at war with radical Jihadist Muslims.  Pres. Obama has refused to make this critical point.

2-  Pres. Obama has ordered to delete and to never use terms like "Islamic terrorism' in any and all official military and government documents. 

3-  He invited the mother of all Islamic terrorists, the Muslim Brotherhood, to attend his first major speech on Muslims and the Middle East at a university in Cairo, Egypt to sit in the front rows. This is despite the fact that Egyptian Pres. Mubarak begged him not to invite the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

4-  Although he publicly supported the rallies to oust Mubarak from power - he refused to support the rallies in Iran to oust genocidal terrorist Iranian leader Ahmadinejad, claiming "it's an internal Iranian matter."

 5-  President Obama has released numerous Islamic terrorists from the Guantanamo prison even though they were officially designated as high risk for future terrorist attacks by terrorism experts.

6-  Muslim Brotherhood members have attended meetings at the White House and with members of the National Security Council.

7-  When a radical Muslim psychiatrist murdered thirteen US soldiers at Ft. Hood, Pres. Obama simply called this 'workplace violence' even though the Muslim psychiatrist's business card stated he was a 'soldier of Allah'.

8-  Pres. Obama has pressured Israel, a US ally and democracy to make one-sided concessions, but ignored the fact that the Palestinian Authority's terrorist promoting Muslim dictator Mahmoud Abbas refused to make any concessions including fulfilling any of his obligations under the Oslo Agreements.

9-  During Pres. Obama's campaign for President the NY Times reported (May 16, 2008) that Mr. Obama spoke of the 'legitimate claims' of Hezbollah and Hamas.

10-  At a meeting of the White House with Jewish Leaders, with ZOA's Morton Klein in attendance, Pres. Obama proclaimed, "Is Israel serious about peace? You US Jewish leaders must search your souls and must talk to your Israeli friends and relatives and ask them to search their souls, and ask how badly do you really want peace? Israelis think this peace process is overrated, their life is good, and things are reasonably quiet, but PA's president Abbas is sincere about peace and everyone knows that."

11-  President Obama has fought against additional sanctions on the terrorist funding and promoting Muslim terrorist state of Iran. He has refused to fully implement existing sanctions, after having fought Congress' actions to enact them. He has now eliminated many of these sanctions. Pres. Obama has caved in to Iranian demands allowing them to keep their uranium and centrifuges (at a lower level of enrichment) while extending one negotiation deadline after another. He has more than implied that he will not use military force against them, which dramatically reduces pressure on Iran to comply. Obama has even talked about appointing a US ambassador to Iran and Iran's becoming a more 'important regional power'.  During these dramatically extended negotiations, Iran is likely moving forward on their nuclear program at facilities where monitoring is not permitted.

Why is president Obama more sensitive and sympathetic to radical Muslim terrorists than he is to the victims of radical Muslim savagery and murder?

This article was published by ZOA and may be found here.

How Israel Can Prevail

Steve Goldberg pledges to implement the following 7 point action plan if he is elected President of the ZOA.

1.  To be effective, the ZOA must get involved in American politics. Right now we are nowhere on the scene, especially compared to AIPAC and J Street. To have any impact, we must aggressively lobby Congress and help elect pro-Israel candidates and defeat anti-Israel candidates. To do so, the ZOA must be more than a 501c3 "educational" organization. It must create a 501c4 for the purpose of lobbying, and a PAC to help support the candidates who are most pro-Israel. I pledge to create such entities so that the ZOA can become relevant and actually affect policy towards Israel in the United States.

 

2.  The ZOA needs to do more than just issue press releases. I pledge to create an army of pro-Israel activists across the country who will speak out, march, demonstrate, and write in support of our platform. We will greatly expand what is now just a token college program to attract young people. We will appear at college campuses where the Muslim Students Union is bashing Israel to demonstrate that Jewish students will not be intimidated. We will hold rallies in cities across the U.S. in support of Israel.

 

3.  The ZOA must initiate a massive public relations campaign across the U.S. to discredit the Palestinian narrative and to explain why the so-called "two state solution" is an abysmal failure which must be declared dead and buried--permanently. There should be a strategic campaign that includes billboards, use of the internet and social media, television, editorials and public speakers who unapologetically make this argument.

 

4.  Likewise, the ZOA must engage in a massive public relations campaign in anticipation of a preemptive military attack by Israel on Iran. Waiting until it happens will be too late. It is time to take the lead in shaping public opinion now.

 

5.  The ZOA must strengthen its presence in Israel. We should partner with strong Zionist organizations, institutions and opinion-makers in Israel such as Women In Green, Im Tirtzu, Regavim, Ariel University, the Shomron Regional Council, the cities of Hebron, Ariel, Kedumim, Gush Etzion and other such areas in Judea and Samaria, Martin Sherman and Caroline Glick. The ZOA should be working openly with strong Zionist political leaders.

 

6. ZOA can no longer be the lone voice of truth. ZOA should engage in creative, attractive outreach to professionals, especially young professionals, and ordinary American citizens of all kinds so that they understand the values at stake and are proud to align themselves with the Zionist cause. We must also actively work with centrist organizations and political leaders so that they have the courage to stand up for the values they often suppress due to political correctness.

 

7.  The ZOA is a Zionist organization. We must vigorously encourage Jews around the world, including and especially our leaders and members, to make aliyah.

Steve Goldberg Why I Am Running For ZOA President

Kahane Retrospective w/Steve Goldberg, Aug. 8

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Presents: Rabbi Meir Kahane, A Retrospective Terrorist or Hero? Discussion with Steven M. Goldberg, Esq. Thursday, August 8, 2013 7:30 p.m. Sherman Oaks Woman’s Club 4808 Kester Ave. Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Rabbi Meir Kahane is the most controversial American Jewish leader in history.  He founded the Jewish Defense League in 1968.  Its members would go to marginal neighborhoods and, while carrying tire irons, chains and baseball bats, escorted elderly Jews to and from synagogue on Shabbat and on Jewish holidays to make sure they were not assaulted by thugs who otherwise preyed upon the elderly Jews.  Jewish Defense League members physically confronted neo-Nazis and other anti-Semites. 

Under Kahane's leadership, the Jewish Defense League was in the forefront of civil disobedience aimed at the Soviet Union's oppression of the Jewish people. To Kahane's credit, he was denounced as a "militant" by the conventional and cowardly leaders of the American Jewish establishment.  The FBI was obsessed with Kahane and made a practice of surveilling him.

Rabbi Kahane made aliyah in 1971.  He boldly advocated annexation of all of the lands of biblical Israel and transfer of the Arabs to neighboring Arab states, which he described as the completion of the mutual exchange of populations that occurred when modern-day Israel came into existence in 1948 and accepted as citizens the Jews who were expelled by the Arab states.  He founded the Kach Party, which espoused his principles.  He won a seat in the Knesset in 1984.  In 1988, as Kahaneand Kach were gaining in popularity among the Israel people, the Israeli government banned him from the Knesset and outlawed Kach as "racist" under a law adopted specifically for the purpose of excluding Kahane from political power.

Rabbi Kahane was assassinated by a Muslim terrorist in a Manhattan hotel room in 1990.   That Muslim terrorist was El Sayyid Nosair, who was initially tried and acquitted of Kahane's murder.  Nosair was subsequently prosecuted in federal court for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and was found guilty of Kahane's murder as part of a larger conspiracy.  Nosair ultimately confessed to Kahane's murder.

In 2000, 10 years after Kahane was assassinated, his son Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and Binyamin's wife were murdered in Israel by Arab gunmen.  Five of their six children were wounded in the attack.

Kahane's ideology was one of aggressive Jewish self-defense, including the unapologetic use of force when necessary. He unflinchingly advocated annexation of all the land liberated by Israel during the Six Day War of 1967 and the expulsion of the Arabs from the Jewish State.  Ironically, many of the critics who condemned Kahane as racist have no problem with the forcible removal of Jews from their homes to make room for a judenrein Palestinian state.

To date there has been nobody to carry Kahane's torch after his murder.  The question that demands an answer is, "Why not?"

Steven M. Goldberg, Esq. was counsel to the Jewish Defense League when it was still active. He will discuss Rabbi Kahane's legacy and whether the Jewish people need the movement he started to be revived. 

It is a subject about which it is impossible to be neutral.

ZOA's huge show of support for Israel

ZOA: Illegal Arab Settlement: An Expose on Arab Land Theft in Israel"

Q:  Doesn't Israel have more important issues to worry about right now?

A: It's all related. Arab missiles are a direct, physical assault on Israel's existence. Arab land theft is an indirect and insidious assault on Israel's existence. Without the world watching, Arab groups hostile to Israel's existence systematically usurp Israel's most precious resource: land.

Q: Do Arabs really steal Israeli land?

Yes, all the time, but it's often not exposed. NGOs, often with Jewish leadership (such as the extremist organization, Peace Now) are more obsessed with cracking down on what they believe is Jewish theft of Arab land in Judea & Samaria (the West Bank). They pursue the demolition of Jewish homes through the Israeli Supreme Court. A disproportionate focus on alleged Jewish theft over rampant Arab theft of Israeli land is obviously a form of discrimination, and more often than not anti-Semitism and/or self-hatred, but you can draw your own conclusions. Regavim is there to ensure Arabs follow rule of law as well.

Q: It sounds so extreme to say Arabs "steal" land.

A: Truth is not a political opinion. Why aren't Arabs and anti-Israel activists called "extreme" when they call for expelling Jews from land they fraudulently claim is "stolen"? On the other hand, why shouldn't Arabs give land to Jews in exchange for peace?

Q: I asked for answers, not more questions.

A: You were the one who screwed up the format first, and they were rhetorical questions. This is obviously a subject that arouses passions. Come to the presentation to learn the facts. Ari Briggs is an excellent speaker!

Q: Does the Israeli government really let this land grab happen?

A: Yes, often out of fear from appearing too aggressive or "racist." Apparently, it's not a racist policy for the Israeli government to expel Jews, but enforcing the law to deter illegal Arab settlement is smacked as "racist."

Operation Rally for Israel in L.A.! This Sun., Nov. 18, 2012, 1 pm in front of the Federal Building

OPERATION L.A. RALLY FOR ISRAEL!   Let us be the pilLArs of defense in the US!  To:  All members of the Jewish community and lovers of Israel of all faiths and lovers of freedom!  What:  Join us in a solidarity rally for Israel as she fights for the Jewish people and for freedom around the world by defending herself from the relentless barrage of rocket attacks from Hamas and other Islamist terrorist groups in Gaza. Why:  Israel is on the front-line of the free world and Jewish self-defense. Let Israel know she has the moral right to achieve victory and to destroy Hamas once and for all! We have Israel's back! When:  Sunday, November 18, 2012, 1 - 3 pm Where: The Federal Building 11000 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90024 What to bring:  Your proud, determined and unapologetic support for Israel and the Jewish people! We'll bring signs and flags! Bring your friends and family! Participating organizations: The Zionist Organization of America, Western Region; StandWithUs; and the Israel Leadership Council (ILC). We invite all members of the Israel-loving community to adopt this rally and spread the word to their constituencies. Questions contact Orit Arfa, Executive Director of ZOA West. E-mail: oarfa@zoa.org. Office: (323) 424-4435

ABOUT THE ZOA Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America ("ZOA") is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. With offices around the country and in Israel, the ZOA is dedicated to educating the public, elected officials, media, and college/high school students about the truth of the ongoing and relentless Arab war against Israel. ZOA is also committed to promoting strong U.S.-Israel relations. ZOA works to protect Jewish college and high school students from intimidation, harassment and discrimination, and in fighting anti-Semitism in general. To learn more about the ZOA,click here. To learn more about the ZOA Western Region activities, click here.

ZOA: Volunteer for Israel

I am proud to announce the Volunteers for Israel program that the ZOA, Los Angeles Region, has initiated.

There is a possibility that Israel may attack Iran some time in the future. If Israel attacks Iran in an effort to destroy its nuclear program, there will likely be a multi-front attack from Iran and Iran's proxies at Israel's borders.

As has been the case in Israel's prior wars, volunteers from the Diaspora serve a crucial purpose in helping Israel during its time of need. With a call-up of reserves, there will be a need for people to work at hospitals and medical clinics, in bakeries, in civilian communities in all regions of the state, and on military bases. If history is a guide, we can expect many American Jews will want to fly to Israel to help out.

As a cause that cuts across the political spectrum and around which we believe the entire Jewish community can unite, the ZOA invited leaders of the major pro-Israel organization in Los Angeles to join with us in creating the Volunteers for Israel program. Our purpose is to provide the members of the Los Angeles Jewish community with the opportunity to fly to Israel and volunteer in civilian capacities in the event of war.

We are presently working to engage the appropriate agencies in Israel to handle logistics and deploy the volunteers upon arrival in Israel.  We believe advance planning will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the volunteer effort should the need arise.  It is also our hope that our Volunteers for Israel program will become a template for similar efforts in other cities throughout the United States.

We held our first meeting on September 4 with representatives from a number of pro-Israel organizations in Los Angeles, CAMERA, the Israeli Leadership Council, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the Republican Jewish Coalition, StandWithUs, as well as a representative from El Al, at our offices in the Jewish Federation building. This first meeting was a very productive brainstorming session during which all of the Jewish leaders in attendance contributed and exchanged valuable ideas as to how the Jewish community can help Israel, both in Israel and at home, in the event of war. The unity of purpose and determination to help Israel in its time of crisis were undeniable and gratifying.   

There is much work to do and nobody knows how much time we'll have to do it. We will be scheduling our second meeting in the near future, and we will keep you apprised of our plans.

In the meantime, please Like our Facebook page "Volunteers for Israel" as well as our new ZOA West Facebook page.

Volunteers for Israel:
http://www.facebook.com/VolunteersForIsraelCommittee

ZOA West:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZOA-West/131903556919428

Maodim L'zimcha!

Steve Goldberg
National Vice Chair
Chair of LA Chapter

Protest Anti-Semitism in Santa Monica this Sun., Aug. 26, 11 am

On August 15, 2012, a jury in a Superior Court of Los Angeles County found Hotel Shangri La in Santa Monica and its co-owner liable of 18 claims of discrimination against a group of Jewish young professionals. In a trial that began in July 2012, the jury found that a co-owner of the hotel, Tehmina Adaya, an American-Muslim of Pakistani descent, violated the California Unruh Civil Rights act when she forced the plaintiffs to leave the premises of the hotel where they were holding a pool party for the Young Leadership Division of the Friends of Israel Defense Force (FIDF), in which they were raising funds to send the children of fallen soldiers to summer camp.

In a clear and shocking expression of modern anti-Semitism, Adaya allegedly called on her staff to "get the f---ing Jews out of my pool." In addition, Adaya was said to have feared repercussions from her family and/or investors if they found out the event was taking place. Hotel security began the process of evicting the Jews from the pool and the patio premises, while a party that was open to the public continued uninterrupted. She also forced the group to remove the FIDF group's promotional material and banners. We commend the 18 plaintiffs, "The Santa Monica Chai," for their courage to speak out, take action, and hold Adaya accountable for her despicable actions.

The jury put the total price-tag for the malicious anti-Semitic actions of Adaya at about $1.65 million, including punitive damages. While the hotel and its owner have been punished by the court of law, the court of public opinion must also speak out against this disgusting form of Jew hatred and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.  

On Sunday, August 26, 2012, 11 am, the ZOA Western Region is leading a community-wide peaceful picket in front of Hotel Shangri La. We encourage all Los Angeles Jewish and pro-Israel groups and synagogues to take part, as well as all people concerned with Jewish civil rights. Bring your friends, colleagues, and family members, as well as additional signs, to express outrage at this bigotry and also pride in the Jewish people.

We will begin protesting at 11 am. The hotel is located on 1301 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401.   

The media is invited to cover the event.

Please spread the word about the protest to draw the line in the Santa Monica sand that says: "NEVER AGAIN!"

For more information and to rsvp, contact Orit Arfa, ZOA West Executive Director, atoarfa@zoa.org. To help ensure an orderly protest, please let us know you'll be there! 

ZOA: Disinvite Carter from Dem convention

The Zionist Organization of America is urging the Democratic National Convention to cancel Jimmy Carter’s scheduled address to the gathering.

In a press release sent yesterday evening, here’s what the ZOA had to say:

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has called upon the Democratic National Convention Committee and Obama for America to rescind its invitation to former President Jimmy Carter to address the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Convention is due to be held during September 3-6. The ZOA has pointed to President Carter's decades-long hostility towards, and defaming of, Israel and advocacy of negotiations with Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls in its Charter for the destruction of Israel and the global murder of Jews, as evidence of the inappropriateness of the invitation.
The invitation to President Carter has been criticized by both the Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Jewish Democratic Council. Yet, the Democratic National Convention has called Carter "one of the greatest humanitarian leaders of our time and a champion of democracy around the globe."
ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt said, "The invitation to President Carter to address the Democratic National Convention is an insult to American Jews, Christian Zionists and all Americans who care - as polls show them to do in large numbers - for Israel.

Carter’s scheduled address, which he will be delivering via video, has already been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman, who said that the ex-president’s positions on Israel made him undeserving of the speaking slot, though he acknowledged that “it’s hard to refuse a platform to a former living president.”

Contrary to the ZOA’s release, the NJDC actually doesn’t seem to have publicly criticized the party’s decision to let Carter speak. Instead, the NJDC criticized Carter’s views on Israel and expressed confidence that “he won’t be speaking to the Party about Middle East policy.” (According to the Democratic National Committee, Carter will be offering “unique insights about President Obama as a global leader.")

The ZOA, which leans decidedly right on Israel policy, may not have too much pull with the Democratic convention organizers given its often confrontational posture toward the Obama administration. Last year, the ZOA urged the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to cancel President Obama’s speech at the lobbying group’s annual policy conference, calling him “the most hostile president to Israel ever.”

YESH! The Greatest Israel You've Never Seen

Been to Israel before? Great! But you probably haven't been to its "lost world" of sorts, like the mythical Atlantis. A good portion of the country has been kept secret from you. Well, the people of Judea & Samaria are letting the cat out of the bag: creative and meaningful life is being lived in Judea & Samaria, aka the West Bank, aka the Territories, aka the Biblical heartland--whatever you wanna call it, the land awaits you.

The wine is aging in barrels, the olive oil is being pressed, the sheep are getting fed, the floors are being swept--all for you--participants of a one-of-a-kind mission to Israel, the birthright of "Birthrights": YESH! A multi-sensory mission to Judea and Samaria being organized by the Zionist Organization of American andOne Israel Fund.

Don't stand on the sidelines as Jewish history is being made, as the fate of the Jewish people and Israel is being decided, as the media and pundits misrepresent the truth about what's going on in Israel and especially Judea & Samaria. Come see for yourself--in an amazingly enjoyable way--the place that is in the hearts and minds of every Jew who cares about Israel: Judea & Samaria. 

Zionist is Independent Thought

Orit Arfa, Executive Director of the Western Region of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), urges people to state their true opinions when it comes to the Middle East conflict, even if their popularity might get arrested.

Netanyahu: Glenn Beck 'Fearless In Defending Israel Against Slanders'

At ZOA dinner, Glenn Beck dishes out the pro-Israel meat

NEW YORK (JTA) – The Zionist Organization of America’s annual dinner is a place where conventional thinking about the liberal proclivities of American Jews goes to die. But never quite like Sunday night -- when Tea Party darling and Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachman served as the opening act and Glenn Beck was swarmed like a rock star.

Beck, who was on hand to receive the ZOA’s Defender of Israel Award, made his way into the VIP reception at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan shortly after 5 p.m. and almost instantly was beset by a crush of admirers. He found himself wedged into a corner as a crowd of well-wishers surged forward to have their photographs taken with him. Bachmann and her fellow Republican congresswoman, Florida’s Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, were there, too -- but it was clear who the star was.

“Love, love, love, love, love,” Ros-Lehtinen said, extending her hand to Beck, who responded by clasping hers in both of his. All around her, an expanding mass of people pressed in closer, seemingly eager to express the same sentiment.

“I need everyone to back up please,” a photographer practically yelled as he tried to create a cordon around the VIPs to set up his shot. But despite help from Beck’s two bodyguards, an assistant, and assorted publicists and ZOA personnel, the crowd kept pushing ahead.

Crowd control proved to be a recurring problem at the dinner. After the appetizer was served, seemingly half the room converged on Beck and his wife, Tania, tying up the traffic flow in the center of the ballroom and rendering the area impassable. A succession of ZOA officials implored the crowd to sit down so servers could get dinner on the table, but with little effect.

Grabbing the microphone, ZOA President Morton Klein, raised his voice -- the first of several times he would do that over the course of the evening -- and commanded those standing around to “sit down -- NOW!”

Even for a crowd that’s been known to get weak in the knees for foreign policy hawks -- including Rep. Shelly Berkley (D-Nev.,), one-time Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer and leading Bush administration neocon John Bolton -- the euphoria surrounding Beck’s appearance stood out. And even for a ZOA dinner, the night was unusually partisan: Of the five members of Congress in attendance, all were Republicans.  Anthony Weiner had been a regular attendee in past years, as were fellow New York Democrats Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel. And though Klein announced that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would attend, New York’s senior senator was nowhere in evidence.

Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Democratic officeholders didn’t seem to be missed. The polls could be right that nearly 80 percent of American Jews voted for Barack Obama and more than half believe Israel should dismantle at least some settlements as part of a final agreement with the Palestinians. But not in this room.

Bachmann’s cry of “not one inch” brought guests to their feet and prompted screams of “Bachmann for president.” In his remarks, Klein assailed the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee – “Yes, I name names” -- for their opposition to a bill on foreign funding of nongovernmental organizations. The measure has been decried by liberals, centrists and even some conservatives, in Israel and abroad, as a grave threat to Israeli democracy.

And Ros-Lehtinen, in a freewheeling and often sarcastic speech, singled out two women in the audience from the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, sardonically identifying them as the obstacles to peace.

“They look harmless,” Ros-Lehtinen said, “but you never know.”

Bachmann began her talk, which sounded much like a campaign stump speech tailored to Jewish ears -- well, certain Jewish ears -- by invoking the line in Genesis promising that those who bless Israel will be blessed. It’s precisely that sort of religiously inflected politicking that gives many American Jews the willies. But the ZOA crowd is not one to get much exercised about the confluence of God and politics. A clear majority of men in the room wore yarmulkes and speakers repeatedly invoked God’s promise of Israel to the Jews.

After a taped message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went off with only a minor technical glitch, the emcee quipped, “I think that proves that God is on our side because the video actually worked.”

As for Beck, he is arguably the most polarizing media figure in Jewish life. Hundreds of liberal rabbis signed a letter in January asking that he be sanctioned for “completely unacceptable” use of the Holocaust and Nazi imagery. He has urged his listeners to quit their church or synagogue if “social justice” is part of its mission. And in a two-part series that accused left-wing financier and Jewish Holocaust survivor George Soros of collaborating with the Nazis, Beck flirted with what some critics saw as anti-Semitic conspiracies of Jewish control of media and finance.

Occasionally Beck has apologized -- as he did after he compared Reform rabbis to Islamists -- and then gone on to offend again.

It was in the wake of the Soros spat, when several Jewish groups lined up to express their outrage, that the ZOA bucked the trend. In a news release, Klein said that Beck’s comments were “essentially accurate” and that Soros “merits no defense or sympathy from Jewish leaders.”

“Glenn Beck got in touch with me, thanked me for writing this because no one else in the organized Jewish world was defending him, and he asked if we could get together,” Klein told JTA. “We got together, I asked him if he’d be our honoree, he began to almost cry. Tears welled up in his eyes.”

Asked about the discomfort some feel with Beck’s repeated use of Holocaust analogies, Klein, a child of survivors who was born in a German displaced persons camp, claimed ignorance, saying he didn’t watch Beck’s show often enough to have an opinion.

“I just don’t know,” he said.

That Beck, an unabashed crier, became misty at Klein’s offer is eminently believable. Beck appeared to choke back tears at least four times during his hourlong speech -- and that was during his less emotional moments.

When he wasn’t battling the urge to cry, he was issuing a battle cry. With arms flailing wildly and face turning the color of the red caviar served in the VIP room, Beck portrayed the challenges facing Israel and the Jewish people in apocalyptic terms -- as the ultimate showdown between good and evil. Beck was the only speaker at the dinner whose voice reached a pitch more feverish than Klein’s.

Beck said he came to the ZOA as a brother. “It’s personal,” he said repeatedly.

And clearly he has not been chastened by the urgings of some Jewish groups to tread lightly with the Holocaust analogies. Again and again he invoked them, saying the world stood on a precipice like the one it faced in 1939 -- only this time it’s worse, as not only is the world ignoring rising evil, he said, it is actively helping it along.

“America is not a collective,” Beck thundered. “America is built on the individual. I am a man and I demand to be counted so others are not numbered again.”

The crowd went wild.

ZOA Recognizes Distinguished Americans For Their Contributions To Israeli Security

 “The Pentagon should prepare a war plan, as a last resort, should all else fail in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” stated U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to a packed audience at the Zionist Organization of America’s Louis Brandeis Dinner held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City Sunday night.

Media superstar and best-selling author Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker and received the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Defender of Israel Award. Beck warned of the serious dangers facing Israel and the West telling the crowd of almost 800 attendees, “Things could get worse.” Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, who are among America’s most generous Jewish philanthropists, presented the award.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, of Florida (R-FL), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, received the Dr. Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Award. She gave a rousing speech strongly criticizing the Palestinian Authority for promoting hatred and violence against Israel in their media, schools, and speeches and stated “they should not be receiving any U.S. funds until they change.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the crowd by video, praising the ZOA as a remarkable and important pro-Israel organization that never stops telling the truth. He also strongly praised Glenn Beck and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as long-time and strong friends of Israel. He had special kind words for the Adelsons, saying that naming an award after them signals the importance of that award.

Father and son real estate entrepreneurs William and Mark Langfan received the Louis D. Brandeis Award.

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, rallied the crowd with a speech demanding, “the U.S. government, the Israeli government and Europe must begin to express their outrage at the PA forming an alliance with Hamas; never showing Israel on their maps; naming schools, streets, and sports teams after Jew-killing terrorists and openly stating that no Jew will be allowed in a future Palestinian state.”

U.S. Representatives Robert Turner (R-NY); Joe Walsh (R-IL); Dan Burton (RR-IN); and Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) also were in attendance, as well as terrorism expert Steve Emerson and Richard Stone, Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.