December 14, 2004
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Attn: NEWS EDITOR

Over 800 People Attended

AT ZOA DINNER IN NYC, U.S. SEN. SAM BROWNBACK
PLEDGES TO FIGHT FOR MOVING U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM

NEW YORK- More than 800 people attended the Zionist Organization of
America's national dinner in New York City on December 12, 2004, at which
the keynote speaker, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), pledged to work for
implementation of the 1995 law requiring the construction of a U.S. embassy
in Jerusalem.

Brownback, one of the most influential and important lawmakers in
Washington as well as one of the most outspoken supporters of Israel on
Capitol Hill, spoke at the ZOA's 108th anniversary Justice Louis D. Brandeis
Award Dinner, which was held at the luxurious Marriott Marquis Hotel.
Brownback, who is one of the few Members of Congress ever to address the
Knesset, received the ZOA's Defender of Israel Award.

In his remarks, Brownback spoke of his heartfelt love for Israel and
the Jewish people, and said he apologized, as a Christian, for the centuries
of Christian anti-Semitism. He pledged to "work hard in the coming year" to
bring about the fulfillment of the Jerusalem Embassy Law. Both the Clinton
and Bush administrations repeatedly refused to implement the law on the
grounds that it would adversely affect U.S. national security.

Senator Brownback, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee, also said he will support
"any military action that Israel deems necessary to defend its people
against Arab terrorists."

Israeli statesman Uzi Landau, in his remarks, warned that a unilateral
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza "could lead to the establishment of a Hamas-Al
Qaeda state on Israel's doorstep." He said there should be no Israeli
withdrawal from Gaza and no surrender of land to the terrorist PA regime.
Knesset Member Landau, a former cabinet minister and the former chairman of
the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that "Israel's war
against terrorism is the same as America's war against terrorism, and any
concession made to a terrorist anywhere is a victory for terrorists
everywhere, and sends a message that terrorism pays." At the dinner, Landau
received the ZOA's Judah Maccabee Award for his efforts on behalf of the
Land of Israel.

Dr. Daniel Pipes, the noted Mideast scholar and nationally syndicated
columnist, received the ZOA's Ben Hecht Award for Outstanding Journalism on
the Middle East. In his remarks, Dr. Pipes spoke about the threat of
militant, radical Islam to America and the world.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein, in his remarks at the dinner,
said there should be no negotiations with PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas or PA
prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and no talk of any Israeli concessions until
there is a completely new Palestinian Arab leadership, made of people who
have had no connection whatsoever to the terrorist PLO or the terrorist PA
regime. He pointed out that contrary to Western media portrayals of Abbas
and Qurei as "moderates," in fact they are "terrorists in moderates'
clothing," noting: Abbas has called for the mass "return" of millions of
Arabs to Israel; has said that "cracking down on Hamas, Jihad and the
Palestinian organizations is not an option at all"; has offered cabinet
positions to leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad; has praised Arab terrorists
as "heroes"; and authored a book denying that the Nazis murdered six million
Jews. Qurei has said there should be no PA action against terrorists; he
attacked President Bush for referring to Israel as "a Jewish State"; he
called the Balfour Declaration of 1917 a "historic mistake"; and publicly
trampled upon an Israeli flag.

Also speaking was David Hatuel, a Jewish resident of Gaza whose
pregnant wife and four young daughters were murdered by Palestinian Arab
terrorists earlier this year. He said the policy of forcing innocent Jews
out of their homes in Gaza is "immoral." Daniella Weiss, mayor of the town
of Kedumim in Samaria, spoke about the right of the Jewish people to Judea
and Samaria, and the hardships faced by the Jewish residents of those areas
in the face of the Palestinian Authority's daily terrorist war. She said
the Oslo process had led to increased terrorism, because Israel's surrender
of land and release of imprisoned terrorists had convinced the Palestinian
Arabs that there is now a possibility of destroying Israel.

The ZOA's Brandeis Award was given to two distinguished Jewish leaders:
Michael Orbach, prominent businessman and former chairman of the ZOA
national board; and Martin Gross, Esq., president of Sandalwood Securities,
and a member of the board of the national ZOA, the Council on Foreign
Relations, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Longtime ZOA leader Dr. Alan Mazurek was the dinner's Master of
Ceremonies. World-renowned Rabbi Moshe Tendler, former dean of Yeshiva
University's rabbinical school, and Professor of Talmud, and chairman of
Y.U.'s Biology Department, delivered the invocation.

ZOA National Convention Held

The dinner coincided with the ZOA's 94th national convention, at which
Morton A. Klein was re-elected national president; Dr. Michael Goldblatt was
elected chairman of the national board; Irwin Hochberg (past chairman of the
UJA-Federation of New York and past national chair of Israel Bonds) was
elected vice-chairman of the board; Dr. Alan Mazurek was elected chairman of
the National Executive Committee; Robert Guzzardi was elected vice-chairman
of the National Executive Committee.

The speakers at the convention were Israeli statesman Uzi Landau, who
spoke about the current situation in the Middle East; syndicated columnist
and attorney Debra Schlussel, who spoke about UNRWA's involvement in
anti-Israel terrorism, and the issue of some American Muslim groups and
terrorism; and Dr. Charles Jacobs, founder and president of The David
Project, who hosted a special screening of his acclaimed film, "Columbia
Unbecoming," which documents the intimidation of pro-Israel students by
Columbia University professors and other troubling events on campus. This
controversial film has been the subject of articles in the New York Times
and many other leading newspapers in recent weeks.

The convention also featured a special workshop on local pro-Israel
activism, led by Philadelphia ZOA executive director Steve Feldman.
* * *
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.