December 23, 2003 Contact: (212)
481-1500 Attn: NEWS EDITOR

Amb. Kurtzer Demands Transfer of Jews

ZOA PROTESTS U.S. AMBASSADOR AGAIN INTERFERING IN ISRAEL'S INTERNAL AFFAIRS
NEW YORK- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has strongly protested
the remark, as reported by the Israeli media, that U.S. Ambassador to Israel
Daniel Kurtzer said it would be "unacceptable" if Israel's courts rule that
the community of Migron is legal.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: "Imagine the outcry if there
was an issue before an American court, and Israel's ambassador to the U.S.
demanded that the U.S. government take action on the issue, regardless of
the court's ruling. Ambassador Kurtzer demand that Israel expel and
transfer Jewish men, women, and children from their homes in Migron is
blatant interference in Israel's internal affairs. It also smacks of a
troubling double standard--because he has never called for the expulsion of
Palestinian Arabs from their homes in legally-questionable areas."

The ZOA notes numerous previous instances in which Ambassador Kurtzer
interfered in Israel's internal affairs:

* In August 2001, Kurtzer publicly criticized Israel for striking at Abu
Ali Mustafa, head of the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), which has murdered 14 U.S. citizens and numerous Israelis.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued
a statement on August 28, 2001, saying it was "surprised and dismayed" that
Kurtzer "felt compelled to raise the issue with Prime Minister Sharon
[while] we did not hear of any similar actions when American citizens were
the victims of terror attacks over the past few months."

* Kurtzer demanded that Israel stop spending government funds on Jewish
communities in Judea-Samaria and Gaza, and "take care of the disabled and or
economic development" instead. (Washington Times, Jan.9, 2002)

* The Israeli (Labor) government's ambassador to Washington, Itamar
Rabinovich, has described a "stormy dispute" between Kurtzer and the head of
Israel's negotiating team, in which "Kurtzer thought that Israel was not
going far enough with the Palestinians. There were sharp exchanges between
them [and Kurtzer] rebuked" the Israeli negotiators. (Ha'aretz, April 6,
2001)

* Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has said: "Kurtzer frequently
pressured Israel to make one-sided concessions to the Arabs; he constantly
blamed Israel for the absence of Mideast peace, and paid little or no
attention to the fact that the Palestinians were carrying out terrorist
attacks and openly calling for the destruction of Israel."

* Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has said more than once that
with Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship
between Israel and the United States." (Ha'aretz, April 6, 2001)

* Morris Amitay, former executive director of AIPAC, has said: "Kurtzer
has a track record of pushing for Palestinian rights. He will use his
Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views." (Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, March 29, 2001)

* The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot (August 9, 1991) reported: "Possibly
more than any other U.S. State Department official, Kurtzer has been
instrumental in promoting the goals of the Palestinians and in raising their
afflictions to the center of the U.S. policymakers' agenda. Kurtzer's poor
relations with Jerusalem's political bureaus reached a new climax" in 1990,
when he authored a speech by James Baker strongly criticizing Israel, which
was delivered at an AIPAC conference, "causing a commotion among the
conference participants...A Jewish community leader told Kurtzer (shortly
afterwards], 'Your children will bear the consequences of the Israeli
policy you are encouraging."'

* * *
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 Brandies and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.