ZOA Joins Right-Wing Attack On Center For Jewish History Chief
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Josh Nathan-Kazis September 19, 2017
Zionist Organization of America national president Mort Klein has joined in the right-wing attack on the new president of the Center for Jewish History.
Since early September, a network of little-known right-wing advocacy groups have pushed a campaign launched by a former chief of staff to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding the resignation of David Myers, the newly appointed head of the Manhattan-based CJH.
The ZOA’s entry into the effort marks the first involvement in the campaign by a large Jewish organization. The ZOA is heavily funded by Sheldon Adelson, a major donor to American Jewish causes and Republican candidates.
Klein’s Monday statement calls for Myers’ firing, based on a litany of allegations about his political activities. It also repeatedly suggests that Myers has ties to the far-left Jewish Voice for Peace. The CJH told the Forward in early September that Myers “has never been involved with JVP in any way.”
Myers is a leading scholar of Jewish history. In early September, 500 Jewish studies professors signed a petition supporting him.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
