L. L. Kenen, editor of the Near East Report, has informed Chairman J.W. Fulbright of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that his services to the American Zionist Council had terminated in July 1960. Mr. Kenen’s statement was read into the proceedings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s inquiry into the activities of the Jewish Agency.
Mr. Kenen wrote that his services consisted mainly of speaking engagements before national and local bodies of the American Zionist Council, its constituent organizations and other groups throughout the United States. He said he was paid a fee of $100 a week. In addition, he wrote, the Council was one of many organizations which had purchased subscriptions for the Near East Report for its leaders and regional offices and for newspaper editors and educators. These subscriptions had expired in 1962, he said.
Maurice Boukstein, who appeared at the hearings as counsel for Isadore Hamlin, executive director of the Jewish Agency-American Section, told Sen. Fulbright that, in his opinion, Mr. Kenen was not subject to registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
However, Mr. Kenen is registered with Congress under the Domestic Lobbying Law, because he serves as executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This committee has no connection with the American Zionist Council or the Jewish Agency, and its budget is raised by non-deductible contributions by American Jews, Mr. Kenen explained.
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