The “Independent Zionists of America” today termed “regrettable” the Zionist Organization of America statement accusing the new group with intent “to undermine and weaken” the ZOA. Judge Louis E. Levinthal, a former ZOA president who is chairman of the provisional committee for the new group, reiterated the intention of the new Zionist group “to enroll Zionists and non-Zionists who support Israel but who have avoided Zionist participation because they opposed political party affiliation. “
Judge Levinthal said it was “absurd” for the ZOA to assert that the issue of its alleged affiliation with the General Zionist party in Israel was a “red herring” or for the ZOA to “deny its identification” with that Israeli party. He denied a charge in the ZOA statement that he and Ezra Shapiro of Cleveland were elected to the World Zionist Actions Committee “because of alleged ties with the Progressive Party in Israel.
“We have never been so affiliated, ” he declared. “We oppose ties with any Israeli political party; we are concerned only with Israel as a whole. We believe that those ZOA members who in principle reject the idea of being supporters of an Israeli political party have a moral right to seek membership in a non-party organization such as ours,” he added.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
