ZOA announces new Jerusalem office

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is pleased to announce the opening of its new Jerusalem office in Israel. On February 24, 2008 at 9AM there will be a press conference at the Begin Center in Jerusalem to formally open the ZOA/Israel office. We are pleased to announce that Ambassador Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, will be addressing the media and friends at this event. Joining Amb. Gold will be Mr. Morton Klein, President of the ZOA and Mr. Jeff Daube, the new Director of ZOA’s Israel office.

Included among the objectives of the ZOA office are:

Develop relationships with members of Knesset, Cabinet Ministers, and media elites to educate them on ZOA’s view of the important issues facing Israel.

Promote legislation calling for the development and implementation of educational policy and curricula to strengthen Zionist/Jewish identity.

Meet with birthright Israel and other mission visitors to Israel.

Meet with US government officials visiting Israel; assist in ZOA meetings with Israeli government officials.

Meet with and offer activist training to MASA participants and volunteers in Israel, including college and pre-college students spending a year or semester in Israel.

Monitor, report on and combat anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias on Israeli campuses.

Develop programs, projects and materials with Israeli students; engage them in the political process off-campus.

Get American expatriates more involved in Israel-US crossover politics (e.g. Jerusalem Birthplace Act).

Assist in the development of a robust, vocal, and active Anglo-Israeli nationalist presence.

Provide first person reports to ZOA leadership on political/ideological climate and events in Israel through a publication called “The View From Here – ZOA Israel Report”.

Build coalitions with like-minded organizations and think tanks.

Maintain (pre-existing) database as a resource for US and Israeli interested parties.

Track the activities of ISM, hostile NGOs and other like-minded anti-Israel agitators. Develop proactive measures to mitigate their impact.

Engage in humanitarian-political projects drawing attention to most pressing needs especially those neglected by government institutions.

Address the misinformation and misconceptions among government representatives, on both sides of the Atlantic, one towards the other.

Publish letters and essays in the Hebrew and English local outlets.

Mr. Jeffrey Daube’s extensive experience on Capitol Hill advocating for pro-Israel legislation over 14 years gives him a unique ability to communicate an accurate sense of Congress to the Israeli people. His noteworthy contributions to the passing of the Jerusalem Birthplace Act (October 2002) and the US-Israel Energy Cooperation Act (December 2007) further demonstrate the efficacy of citizen involvement in the political process, a political advocacy culture which the ZOA would like to see promoted more in Israel.

In particular, with well over 200,000 North Americans living in Israel currently, the ZOA plans to help empower this often politically underrepresented group of steadfast Zionists. Daube comments: “In my brief tenure here thus far, I have been gratified by the response of this community to the opening of the ZOA office. Expatriate North Americans desperately want to do their part to support and strengthen Zionism, and are just looking for the appropriate means. ZOA in Israel hopes to offer one such mechanism, working with like-minded organizations wherever possible, to help this group attain a robust and respected nationalist voice.”

The ZOA presence in Israel will also provide opportunities for post-high school, collegiate, and graduate students studying in Israel to increase their appreciation for and pride in the State of Israel, especially in anticipation of their returning to campuses that are often fraught with anti-Israel rhetoric. The already active ZOA presence on these campuses will bolster the impact of awareness-building activities begun in Israel.

Daube comes to this position with a wealth of experience in the pro-Israel advocacy world. Besides being very actively engaged with many Zionist organizations, including ZOA, NORPAC (board member), AIPAC, Tehilla (steering committee member), One Israel Fund, Palestinian Media Watch, and Peace for Generations, Daube has also authored various educational materials, including Israel Between The Lines, a weekly newsletter; Dubious Allies: The Arab Media’s War of Words Against America, an exhaustive compilation exposing anti-US sentiment; and many other in-depth reports on Palestinian incitement, Palestinian terrorism, Palestinian abuse of civil and human rights, anti-Semitism in the Egyptian press, Saudi Arabian sponsorship of terrorism, the Hebron Accords, the future of Jerusalem, energy independence, and the Iranian/Russian nuclear threat. In addition, Daube prepared much of the background material for NORPAC’s annual missions to Washington. He has also had numerous letters to the editor published in major Anglo-Jewish and community newspapers.

Serving as co-chair for his synagogue’s Israel Emergency Fund, Daube managed the collection and distribution of many hundreds of thousands of dollars, mainly on behalf of victims of terror and their families, IDF soldiers, and paramedical groups, since the Palestinian Arab terror war began in late 2000. He also initiated and coordinated numerous pro-Israel community events in his former home of Riverdale, NY, and plans to use those organizational skills to arrange ZOA activities in Israel, including programs for visiting leaders and missions.

Daube, who received a B.A. and two M.A. degrees from Columbia University, including one in Instructional Technology and Computing from its Teachers College, had been an educator for 31 years prior to his aliyah at the end of December. As such, he had made the pervasive destructive messages to children found in Palestinian textbooks and media one of his signature issues; also a major focus of his lectures and seminars delivered to community and university groups throughout the US. In his new capacity at ZOA, Daube will continue to highlight this phenomenon as a paramount threat to lasting peace in the Middle East.

Daube, who has devoted his entire life to the Zionist cause, sees his Israel appointment “as a tremendous opportunity and responsibility” stating, “I am sure that, with the guidance of the National ZOA Office in New York, and the help of numerous committed Zionists both here and in America, the ZOA in Israel can make a difference.”

ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, “We are pleased to open our new ZOA office in Jerusalem. We look forward to giving a stronger voice to a majority of Israelis who are opposed to supporting consideration of any Israeli concessions before there is full Palestinian Arab compliance to their Oslo/Hebron/Wye/RoadMap obligations to end terror, arrest terrorists, confiscate illegal weapons, and end incitement. We will also be fighting to take Jerusalem and the so-called Palestinian refugee issue off the table. ZOA also opposes any discussion of a Palestinian Arab state before there is a total transformation of the Palestinian Arab culture to one that promotes peace and conciliation. We are also pleased to have such a talented and committed individual as Jeff Daube to be our director in Israel. Many Israelis have repeatedly asked us over the years to open a ZOA Office in Israel. I am glad we have now fulfilled that dream.”