Exclusive: ZOA Accuses Biden’s ‘Phony, Dangerous’ Strategy of ‘Enabling’ Antisemitism

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) head Morton Klein blasted the Biden administration’s new government strategy for combating antisemitism, deeming it both “phony” and “dangerous,” as well as a “frightening disgrace that enables antisemitism.”

Speaking with Breitbart News on Tuesday, Klein, who has headed the nation’s oldest pro-Israel organization for nearly two decades, blasted President Joe Biden’s reliance on the left-wing “Nexus” document as well as the so-called “Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism” (JDA), another preferred left-wing alternative.

“President Biden and [US Antisemitism] envoy Deborah Lipstadt must be condemned for their phony, dangerous antisemitism plan which ‘welcomes and appreciates as a valuable tool’ Nexus and JDA antisemitism definitions which state that opposing Israel’s right to exist or supporting BDS is not antisemitism,” he said, adding that “Biden/Lipstadt are legitimizing Israelophobia and Israel boycotts.”

According to Klein, the Biden/Lipstadt plan will make it “much harder” to fight the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses as “antisemitism,” or fight Democrat Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Betty McCollum (MN) as “antisemites.”

The ZOA leader pointed to the recent congressional “Nakba” event mourning Israel’s reestablishment and supporting boycotting Israel, which was hosted by Tlaib, a far-left “Squad” member long accused of anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric.

The “Nakba” (Catastrophe) is a term used by Palestinians to refer to the Jewish people’s statehood in the land of Israel — their ancestral homeland.

Klein warned Tlaib’s function could, under the new guidelines, “be claimed to simply be a legitimate political opinion, and not Jew hatred.”

“These congressmembers and others, like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, who only condemn and focus on the Jewish State for alleged human rights abuses while ignoring real abusers like China, Iran, the Palestinian regime, Russia or Venezuela, are no longer considered antisemitic but merely expressing their legitimate political opinion,” he stated.

In addition, he noted, the plan “ignores the serious problems of radical Islamist antisemitism and radical Black nationalist antisemitism as antisemitism, while only naming White supremacists as a Jew-hating group.”

Klein concluded by highlighting that the “Israel-hating ‘CAIR,’ a Hamas front group, and the extremist anti-Israel ‘J Street,’ have profusely praised this plan and were named as being involved in its development.”

“This is further proof that this Biden/Lipstadt antisemitism plan is a frightening disgrace that enables antisemitism and protects antisemites by labeling them as mere political activists,” he said.

Klein’s remarks follow President Biden’s unveiling of a new strategy to combat antisemitism, which he called the “most ambitious and comprehensive US government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history.”

However, the new plan has been criticized for excluding extreme criticism of Israel, in deference to radical left-wing groups that are a core part of the Democratic Party coalition. 

It has also been attacked for potentially targeting conservatives.

The matter comes as the number of recorded antisemitic incidents has reached a record high under President Biden’s administration, despite campaigning on stopping the rise of extremism.

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.