It is perplexing that the ADL would publicly attack the ZOA and go so far as to urge the entire American Jewish community to denounce the ZOA, without even bothering to check with a single ZOA official about the truth of the accusation that the ADL was making. The ZOA pointed out that the ADL's false accusation against the ZOA violated the guidelines on civility in Jewish communal discourse issued in 1995 by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Public statements have consequences.
They have been and will be rejected. The ZOA, founded in 1897, is the oldest, and one of the largest, pro-Israel organizations in the United States. Its presidents have included such illustrious Jewish leaders as Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver. The ZOA was instrumental in mobilizing American support for the establishment of Israel in 1948. In addition to the ZOA's educational activity on behalf of the Jewish State today, the ZOA remains intimately involved in the life of Israel.