December 12, 2003 Contact: (212) 481-1500
Attn: NEWS EDITOR

ZOA STRONGLY PROTESTS STATEMENT BY BUSH OFFICIAL CLAIMING ISRAEL HAS "DONE
TOO LITTLE FOR PEACE"

NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America strongly protests the
statement by a senior Bush administration official that Israel has "done too
little for far too long" to advance Middle East peace.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield made that
statement (New York Times, Dec. 12, 2003) at a conference in Rome on
December 11, 2003, at which the U.S. and other countries pledged to provide
hundreds of millions of dollars to the terrorist Palestinian Authority
regime, despite the PA's financing and ordering of suicide bombings against
Israel and its long record of corrupt misuse of international donations.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said:

"It is the terrorist Palestinian Authority regime, not Israel, that has
"done too little for far too long" to advance peace. The PA has never taken
any of the steps required by the Oslo accords and the Bush Road Map, such as
arresting terrorists, outlawing terrorist groups, confiscating their tens of
thousands of weapons, shutting down their training camps, stopping payments
to terrorists' families, and stopping the glorification of terrorists in the
PA-controlled media, schools, summer camps, and mosques.

"Israel has no obligation to take any more steps or make any more
concessions so long as the PA continues to refuse to fulfill its
obligations. No government in the world is obliged to keep its side of an
agreement if the other party refuses to do so.

"Israel has made more concessions in recent years than at any time in
its history, including giving away half of Judea-Samaria, releasing
thousands of terrorists from prison, providing significant tax funds to the
PA concessions that nobody would have dreamed of, and in return has
suffered the most horrific terrorism in its history. How dare David
Satterfield demand that Israel engage in more appeasement, when appeasement
has only encouraged more terrorism against both Israel and America."

The ZOA notes that it is implausible to suggest that Satterfield would
have made such a statement, in prepared remarks at an international
conference, without the approval of the administration. Indeed, Bush
officials have criticized Israel on many recent occasions, including:

November 19, 2003: In his speech in England on November 19, 2003,
President Bush blamed Israel for "the daily humiliation of the Palestinian
people." He also called for the creation of a "viable, independent"
Palestinian Arab state; criticized Israel for building "walls and fences" to
protect itself from terrorism; and demanded that Israel "freeze settlement
construction [and] dismantle unauthorized outposts," but did not mention the
much more widespread Arab illegal construction activity in the territories.

September 7, 2003: Speaking on the ABC News program "This Week,"
Secretary Powell condemned Israeli assassinations of Hamas terrorist leaders
who have murdered hundreds of Israelis and Americans. He said: "To kill one
Hamas leader, but wound 9 children or 10 children in the course of this, who
will grow up to become Hamas leaders or Hamas killers later, they have to
consider the long-term consequences of this policy."

August 26, 2003: Taking action in the wake of the Jerusalem bus
massacre of 21 Israelis, Israeli forces struck at a Hamas terrorist leader
who was trying to conceal himself among civilians neighborhood near Gaza
City; one bystander was inadvertently killed in the attack. State
Department spokesman Philip Reeker criticized the Israeli action, saying:
"The killing of innocents has got to stop. We have to see an end to terror
and violence, which is clearly spelled out as the first major step of the
Road Map." (New York Times, Aug. 27, 2003)

August 25, 2003: Speaking in San Antonio, TX, National Security Advisor
Condoleeza Rice pressed Israel to "fulfill its responsibilities" under the
Bush Road Map yet did not say that the Palestinian Authority (PA) must
fulfill its responsibilities.

June 22, 2003: Secretary of State Colin Powell condemned Israel's
elimination of mass-murderer Abdullah Qawasmeh, saying: "I regret we had an
incident that could be an impediment to progress. It is a matter of
concern." He added: "I regret that we continue to find ourselves trapped in
this action and counteraction, provocation and reaction to provocation."
(Associated Press, June 23, 2003)

June 9, 2003: President Bush said that he is "deeply troubled" by
Israel's attempt to eliminate Hamas leader and mass-murderer Abdul-Aziz
Rantisi, and that the action "does not contribute to the security of
Israel." (Associated Press, June 10, 2003)

* * *

The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest
pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen
U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the
dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on
college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice
Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.