Israel Matzav

Surprise: Most of the 340 'rabbis' for Iran came from Iran-supported J Street

After the 98 'Hollywood Jews for Iran' letter, the Obama-Kerry junta has produced 340 'rabbis' Iran. I'm sure you'll all be shocked to see this Zionist Organization of America press release disclosing that the vast majority of them are affiliated with Iran-funded J Street (Hat Tip: Liz B).

ZOA Analysis Shows "340 Rabbis For Iran Deal" Are From Groups Hostile to Israel, Including J Street (Which Works With Apparent Iranian Regime Group NIAC), BDS Group "Jewish Voice for Peace," and Israel-Bashing "Rabbis for Human Rights"

94% of U.S. Rabbis Did NOT Sign Pro-Iran Deal Statement, While American Jews Oppose Deal by 2-1, Israelis 7-1, and All Americans by 2-1

NEW YORK, August, 18, 2015 -- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)'s analysis shows that the overwhelming majority of the "340 Rabbis for Iran Deal" come from groups that routinely take positions and engage in activities that are hostile towards Israel and inimical to American interests. The "340 Rabbis for Iran Deal" are a small fringe group. There are over 5,000 Rabbis in the United States. In other words, 94% of American Rabbis did not sign the statement supporting the Iran deal.

The majority of the Iran Deal Rabbis come from the Soros-funded J Street. (George Soros is a self-described anti-Zionist billionaire.) Liberal Professor Alan Dershowitz explained that J Street "always seems to be taking positions that are anti-Israel." J Street U's new student board president is an anti-Israel Muslim.

J Street has financial and other ties to the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), an apparent arm of the Iranian regime. Dissident journalist Hassan Daioleslam revealed that NIAC serves as a lobbying group for Iran, and that NIAC's president and founder, Trita Parsi, has a long-term close relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. J Street's financial filings revealed that J Street's initial funders included NIAC board member Genevieve Lynch. J Street's first national conference held an Iran panel with NIAC head Trita Parsi and Iran apologist Hillary Mann Leverett, who insisted that no sanctions be placed on Iran. At the J Street event, Leverett also condemned anyone who did not trust the Iranian regime as "reinforcing stereotypes of Iranian duplicitousness" and asserted that such "stereotypes" of Iran's Mullahs were "fundamentally racist." Leverett also compared Iran's mullahs to Israeli rabbis. See Trouble on J-Street, by James Kirchick.

J-Street has a long history of supporting the Iran regime's interests over those of America and Israel. For instance, J Street lobbied Congresspersons to simply "believe in Iran" - despite the Iranian regime's responsibility for murdering hundreds of Americans, Israelis and others, and history of undeclared sites for carrying on its nuclear weapons program. Former Congressman Allen West, who noted that J-Street was a "Pro-Palestinian Jewish organization," related that J-Street told him that he should just "believe in Iran."

In addition, several months ago, J Street ran and touted a phony poll to falsely claim that Jews support the Iran deal. The poll asked about a hypothetical Iran deal that would only give Iran "modest relief from sanctions," and that would only reduce sanctions gradually as Iran met compliance benchmarks, in exchange for enrichment restrictions to civilian use and full time inspectors at Iran's nuclear facilities "to make sure Iran is not developing nuclear weapons." This loaded polling question is a far cry from the actual Iran deal, which gives hundreds of billions of dollars of sanctions relief and economic windfalls to Iran, allows enrichment in excess of the amounts needed for civilian use, and delays and places all sorts of roadblocks in the way of obtaining inspections of Iran's undeclared nuclear activities. In addition, no Americans are allowed to inspect Iranian facilities, and inspectors must first be approved by Iran officials before they can even enter Iran.

Moreover, Ameinu (which is the group promoting the "340 Rabbis for Iran Deal") is closely tied to J Street. Ameinu appears to be serving as a front group for J Street here - since J Street has been so discredited. Ameinu National President Kenneth Bob doubles as J Street's Treasurer. Ameinu Vice President and Executive Committee Chair Judith Gelman is a member of J Street's Montgomery County, MD steering committee. Ameinu and J Street recently ran together on the same election slate.

Other "340 Iran Deal Rabbis" include a board member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). JVP is featured on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) list of the "Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups in America," and actively promotes anti-Israel boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

The Iran Deal Rabbis also include over a dozen significant contributors to the so-called "Rabbis for Human Rights" (RHR). RHR participates in anti-Israel demonstrations and, along with other anti-Israel groups, launched a website with false testimonies accusing Israel of human rights violations in Gaza. ZOA members witnessed an RHR Rabbi invent and widely publish false stories to demonize pro-Israel young people at the Israel Day Parade Concert in New York several years ago.

ZOA's comparison of the names and locations on the 340 "Rabbis for Iran Deal" list with lists published on the websites of hostile-to-Israel groups showed the following:

187 (the majority) of the Iran Deal Rabbis are members of the "J Street Rabbinic Cabinet."

12 of the Iran Deal Rabbis are members of the "J Street Rabbinic Cabinet Executive Council"

The Iran Deal Rabbis also include 2 (out of 3) of the J Street cabinet's co-chairs

13 of the Iran Deal Rabbis are significant donors to the falsehood-purveying "Rabbis for Human Rights."

Iran Deal Rabbi Linda Holtzman is on the Board of Directors of the anti-Israel BDS group, "Jewish Voice for Peace." Rabbi Holtzman is known as a "pioneer lesbian Rabbi." As a homosexual, she should be the first to condemn Iran's horrendous human rights record, which includes Iran's brutal executions of hundreds of innocent individuals for the sole reason that they are gay. Incredibly, she is fostering a deal that will give the Iranian regime hundreds of billions of dollars to continue its brutal oppression of gays and minorities.

Iran Deal Rabbi Arthur Waskow [pictured - CiJ] states that the people at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are "people I trust and admire and respect." CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case (the case against groups that sent funding to Hamas). CAIR is also among the top groups that ADL has frequently condemned for its anti-Israel activities.

ZOA President Morton A. Klein stated:

"The Rabbis signing the Ameinu letter do not in any way represent the viewpoint of American Rabbis. To only be able to get 6% of U.S. rabbis to sign this statement supporting the catastrophic Iran deal clearly indicates that Rabbinic leaders are deeply concerned about the Iran nuclear deal. This is especially true when 75% of American Jews voted for President Obama. More importantly, reliable polls show tremendous opposition to the Iran deal. The Quinnipiac poll shows that Americans oppose this dangerous deal by a margin of 2 to 1, and the Israel Project poll shows that American Jews also oppose the Iran deal by the same 2 to 1 margin. In addition, a poll conducted this week by Israel's Channel 10, reported in the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, shows that Israelis oppose the Iran deal by a margin of 7 to 1."

"Almost every major Jewish and pro-Israel group strongly opposes this disastrous Iran deal. These major groups opposed to the Iran deal include: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC); the Anti-Defamation League (ADL); the Zionist Organization of America; the American Jewish Committee; the American Jewish Congress; B'nai Brith; Christians United for Israel (CUFI); the Orthodox Union; over 100 organizations who are members of the StopIranRally.org Coalition; and Jewish Federations across the country including in Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, Houston, Phoenix, Chicago, New York, and many more."

Labels: anti-Israel rabbis, J Street, J Street funding, J Street U, Jewish Voice for Peace, Zionist Organization of America

Is Steve Goldberg fit to lead the ZOA?

The Zionist Organization of America is holding elections. The incumbent, Mort Klein is backed by 48 of the 51 board members, and has received the endorsement of Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon. You would think that would be enough. It's not. I have been asked to post this video explaining why Mort Klein should be reelected.

You can find more information here.

Labels: American Jews, Zionist Organization of America

IRS reinstates Zionist Organization of America's tax exempt status

The IRS has apparently decided to relieve some of the pressure it is facing by reinstating the tax-exempt status of the Zionist Organization of America. Here's a press release from the ZOA.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is pleased to report that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reinstated its recognition of ZOA’s status as a tax exempt, tax-deductible 501(c)(3) organization. In a letter dated May 15, 2013 to the ZOA, the IRS wrote, “We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for tax exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to you are deductible under section 170 of the Code. You are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers of gifts under section 2055, 2104, or 2502 of the Code.” ZOA wishes to emphasize that all donations to ZOA have remained tax-deductible throughout this period since they were legally directed to the “ZOA Donors Fund” managed by the Foundation For Jewish Community (fjc.org), a third party 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund. Direct gifts to ZOA will now again be tax-deductible. “The work of the ZOA has never been altered or diminished one iota during this period. Our campus work; our Title VI efforts; our Capitol Hill work; our writings, lectures, TV and radio appearances have continued as always. Our devoted ZOA Board and virtually all of our major donors and all of our employees remained committed to and supportive of ZOA,” Klein explained.

We are also pleased to announce that at its November 23, 2013 Brandeis Dinner, Gov. Mike Huckabee, former presidential candidate and Host of the Huckabee Show on Fox TV, will be the speaker and will be receiving the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Award for Pro-Israel Activism. We would also add that ZOA is honored to have James Tisch, prominent and distinguished Jewish communal and business leader, as Co-Chair of our upcoming ZOA Dinner. Mr. Tisch has served as Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and as Chairman of the New York Jewish Federation – UJC. He serves as CEO of Loews Corp.

Morton Klein, President, Dr. Michael Goldblatt, Chairman, and David Drimer, Executive Director, said, “We are gratified that the IRS has reinstated our long held tax exempt status. We also want to thank our friends and especially a great group of devoted ZOA employees who helped to expedite the resolution of this matter. A special thanks must be given to Mr. Tyler B.Korn, our brilliant and tireless tax attorney who gave freely of his time, energy, and wisdom to help resolve this situation.

We want to emphasize that ZOA’s work never stopped and never changed during this period. We also want to thank all of our friends and donors for their continuing support. The ZOA looks forward to continuing our critical work promoting strong US/Israel relations; advocating for Israel’s security; protecting Jewish students from anti-Semitism on America’s campuses; and educating the public, media, and Congress on the ongoing Arab war against Israel.

You think the discovery that the IRS has been openly discriminating against conservative groups had nothing to do with ZOA's tax-exempt status being reinstated? If you really think that, you're a fool.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Internal Revenue Service, Zionist Organization of America

Dems to US Jews: If you don't stick up for yourself, we won't either

A great editorial directed at the American Jewish community in the New York Sun:

There is no sugar-coating the point. The Senate has just confirmed the most truculent cabinet officer in respect of Israel in more than a generation because important institutions and leaders shrank from making an issue of it.

This is a story that is painful for many people to talk about. It would be inaccurate to suggest that the only objection to putting Mr. Hagel in at the war department had to do with Israel. He would be inadequate, even were Israel not an issue. There is a broad sense within the Jewish community — as there is among a number of non-Jewish senators who permitted his nomination to go to the floor — that Mr. Hagel has proven himself incompetent and disingenuous.

Yet there’s no gainsaying the special concern that his hostility to Israel has raised among the Jewish leadership. And one of the stories that is being spoken of in private is how humiliated the leaders of the Jewish community feel. Nearly all of them — not all, but nearly all — were opposed to the elevation of Mr. Hagel to the Pentagon. But only one of the Jewish defense agencies spoke out forcefully against him.

That was the Zionist Organization of America, which is the oldest pro-Israel organization in America, having been founded in 1897, the same year in which Theodor Herzl convened at Basel, Switzerland, the First Zionist Congress. It opposed the Hagel nomination early, forthrightly, and unapologetically. The result, according to the ZOA’s president, Morton Klein, is that it received objections from several leaders worried about the consequences for the Jewish community of such a public position.

Mr. Klein believes the Hagel nomination would not have been confirmed had the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee taken a formal public position against Mr. Hagel. All three agencies have had many heroic moments. But they stood down on Mr. Hagel. Said Mr. Klein: “Several senators — and important ones — said to me: ‘If Aipac, ADL and AJCommittee — especially Aipac — had come out and lobbied against Hagel, he would have been stopped.”

Read the whole thing.

Any word yet who will run against Schumer?

Labels: ADL, AIPAC, American Jewish Committee, Barack Hussein Obama, Charles Schumer, Chuck Hagel, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Zionist Organization of America