December 13, 2005
Contact Morton A. Klein at: www.zoa.org
Attn: NEWS EDITOR

Record 1000 People
Attend ZOA Dinner

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N. JOHN BOLTON AT ZOA DINNER:
IT'S A FANTASY THAT ISRAEL IS TREATED FAIRLY AT U.N.

NEW YORK - A record 1000 people came to the Zionist Organization of
America (ZOA) National Dinner on Sunday night at the Marriot Marquis Hotel
in New York City. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton,
was ZOA's Keynote Speaker. Bolton received the ZOA's Defender of Israel
Award and delivered a powerful speech in which he laid out many of the
problems at the United Nations, stating, "Let's be clear - for it to be said
that Israel is being treated as a normal nation at the U.N. is fantasy."
Bolton's address was repeatedly interrupted by applause and he received a
standing ovation.

Bolton, whose appointment as U.N. Ambassador was strongly supported
by the ZOA, has worked in recent weeks in the U.N. Security Council to have
Syria and Palestinian Islamic Jihad named in connection with the terrorist
attack against Israelis in Netanya which killed five and wounded more than
30 and also succeeded in having the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah
condemned for its attack upon Israel. This was the first occasion the U.N.
has ever condemned Hezbollah. Bolton said at the dinner that the U.S. would
not back down and that naming terrorists "is something we plan to do in the
future." He also spoke of Iran's public threat to wipe Israel off the map as
being "no mere flight of rhetoric when it comes from a state that has been
pursuing weapons of mass destruction."

Ambassador Bolton promised to pursue the issue of UN-sponsored
anti-Israeli campaigns. Referring to last week's "Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People", at which a "Map of Palestine" was displayed from which
Israel was expunged, Bolton said that there was reason to believe the map
had been produced and paid for by the U.N. and referred also to the case of
a U.N. funded agency that had produced mugs and t-shirts saying, 'Today
Gaza, Tomorrow Jerusalem,' saying that the U.S. would pursue these matters:
" If that is true, then you, the American taxpayer, paid for 22% of that map
(percentage of UN budget paid for by US). You probably paid 22% of that
entire event. We're going to find out if that is true . I want to make it
clear that we are not finished with the issue . We are setting a new
standard for honesty at the U.N." Bolton also praised the ZOA for being
willing to speak the truth about the Middle East even when others are
reluctant to do so.

Also at the dinner, the ZOA's Ben Hecht Award for Outstanding
Journalism on the Middle East was presented to Caroline Glick, the Deputy
Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post and a syndicated columnist for both
the Post and Makor Rishon, who in 2003 was named the most prominent woman in
Israel by the Israeli daily Ma'ariv. Glick said, "That ZOA should view me as
worthy of this award is a vote of confidence in me from people I respect. I
notice there is always a core among us that never loses faith in our destiny
as the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and never forgets the
distinction between fact and fantasy. The ZOA people in this room are part
of this core."

Glick spoke of the current dangers facing Israel in being led by old
leaders "basing their policies on fantasy rather than reality . To some
Israeli leaders, the fantasy of the Oslo peace process was impervious to the
screams of our murdered youth . The fantasy of Oslo was that Arabs want
peace with Israel. The fantasy of Oslo was not replaced by a strategy for
victory based on reality, but with a new strategy based on a new fantasy .
Sharon's new fantasy of disengagement is that while it is true that the Arab
world in general and the Palestinians in particular have no interest in
living at peace with Israel, Israel can deal with their hatred by
unilaterally disengaging from the Middle East and holding up behind walls
and barricades, turning on the internet and becoming immediately transported
to a world where we will be safe. The disengagement from geographical and
strategic reality that Sharon is advancing is in many ways more dangerous
than the fantasy of Oslo..."

"When the mother of an Israeli murdered by a terrorist asked Shimon
Peres about the fact that her son's murderers were walking free, Peres told
her that there was nothing that he could do about it because he was in the
business of signing peace treaties. The odd and tragic thing is that just as
the fantasy of Oslo was disintegrating against the overwhelming power of the
reality of war, it was replaced not with a strategy for victory based on
reality, but by a new strategy based on a new fantasy. Those who for years
spoke of the danger of Oslo and watched in horror as their darkest forecasts
came true, did not receive the belated thanks of their people but instead
continue to be pilloried..."

Glick also explained that civil rights were denied to Israeli
protestors of the Gaza withdrawal. "The disengagement fantasy involves
Israelis directly in the brutalization of other Israelis . People were
denied permits to protest. People's freedom of movement was restricted, as
police intercepted buses transporting lawful protestors to legal
demonstrations. Thousands of people were arrested en masse, kept behind bars
for weeks or months without trial or indictment for the 'crime' of opposing
their government's polices. Among these political prisoners were hundreds of
children and teenagers. When the Public Defenders Office put out a report
explaining that laws were prejudicially enforced based on a suspect's
political view, Chief Public Defender Rubenstein was forced to apologize for
the report under the threat of firing from Justice Minister Tzippi Livni."

"This Gaza disengagement has paved the way for the next round of
expulsions by making it seem easy to throw Jews out of their homes. Today,
Sharon's and his associates are planning to move immediately after the
elections to expel an additional 60,000 Jews from their homes in Judea and
Samaria and transfer 95% of Judea and Samaria to our enemies, even before
beginning negotiations over Jerusalem, so-called Arab refugees and security
arrangements... Will Israel continue to cling to the fantasy that we can
live in our land and pretend that we are not part of our neighborhood? All
must be made to know that the result of choosing fantasy over reality is the
murder of thousands of real people." She concluded by saying, "During these
days, the ZOA will remain a voice of truth even if the power rests in the
hands of those denying truth."

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein, in his remarks at the dinner
said, "Ever since the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria,
instead of things getting better, things have been getting worse. Hundreds
of missiles have been fired at Israel from Gaza, thousands of weapons have
been smuggled into Gaza and dozens of terrorists have entered Gaza." Klein
cited poll after poll that Americans support Israel and not the Palestinians
and gave a detailed historical, political and religious analysis exposing
the "propaganda myth that Jerusalem is holy or important to Arabs and
Muslims." His analysis included explanations that Jerusalem is never
mentioned in the Koran and that no Arab leader visited east Jerusalem while
the Arabs controlled it from 1948 to 1967.

Klein also paid tribute to Israel's Christian supporters, noting
that, "Unlike others, we praise and appreciate Christian Zionists who
support Israel." Klein discussed the accomplishments of the ZOA Division of
Government Relations on Capitol Hill, the ZOA Center for Law and Justice and
the ZOA College Activism Group. He ended his speech by making it clear that
it was a common occurrence in Jewish history that a minority of Jews have
been proved right and helped in the end to save the majority of Jews, with
the Maccabees during this Chanukah season being the classic example.

The ZOA's Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award was given to Eli E. Hertz,
a pioneer in the personal computer industry, President of Myths and Facts
Inc. and a Board Member of AIPAC, the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy and CAMERA; and Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, a Principal with Bernstein
Investment Research & Management and a Board Member of City College and
former official with Governor Pataki, was the recipient of the ZOA's
Distinguished Leadership Award. Official congressional proclamations from
Congressmen Anthony Wiener (D-NY), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Nita Lowey (D-NY),
were presented to Hertz and Wiesenfeld at the dinner. Irwin Hochberg, past
National Chairman of Israel Bonds and Member of ZOA National Board, and Bob
Guzzardi, a prominent attorney and a Member of the ZOA National Board and
AIPAC's Executive Committee, were Dinner Co-Chairs. Ben Brafman, the
distinguished criminal defense attorney, was the Master of Ceremonies. ZOA
Board Member Martin Gross, who is also a Trustee of Washington Institute for
Near East Policy, introduced Ambassador Bolton; Board Member Dr. Ben
Chouake, President of Norpac and a Member of the Board of Yeshiva
University, introduced Klein. ZOA Associate Chairman of Board Sylvia Freyer
delivered the blessing over bread. Josh Orbach, son of the ZOA board member
Michael Orbach, recited the grace after meals. Dr. Alan Mazurek, Chairman of
ZOA Executive Committee, presented the Journalism Award to Caroline Glick.
ZOA Board Member David Schoen introduced Ben Brafman.