On Fareed Zakaria's CNN show on March 15, Chas Freeman said that the Zionist Organization of America had coordinated a campaign against his selection to be Obama's National Intelligence Council chair, an appointment he had given up under pressure five days before the interview aired. Freeman cited a "posting" by ZOA that took credit for an effort to dig up information against him and "to agitate first congressmen who were sympathetic to them and later others."
The ZOA responded on March 18: "There is no such ZOA posting that Freeman describes."
Well here's the posting, from a Zionist website, an email that Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America sent out March 11, the day after Chas Freeman withdrew his name. It's also here, on an Israeli site. It describes just such a campaign:
The ZOA's role in calling for the rescission of Freeman's appointment was noted in the March 10 report in JTA by Eric Fingerhut, who observed that, "The Zionist Organization of America and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs were the only Jewish organizations to come out publicly against the pick." (But of course ZOA did much more than send out a press release). ZOA's role was also noted in the Jewish Week's (New York) March 4 Washington blog, and in several other political blogs as well.
The co-directors of the ZOA's Government Relations office in Washington, Josh London and Dan Pollak, lobbied hard every day, educating Members of Congress about Freeman's anti-Israel, anti-American record, urging them to take up the issue with the Obama Administration and to sign on to the Berkeley-Kirk letter. I personally phoned numerous Jewish communal and Congressional leaders repeatedly in recent days on the subject and was successful in getting Congressmen to add their name to the letter as well pledge to make calls to the White House.
The ZOA leaders and members can therefore derive special satisfaction on a positive outcome on an important matter affecting Israel and the American-Israeli relationship.
