The Zionist Organization of American clarified a previous report in which the ZOA created the erroneous impression that Philip M. Klutznick, chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress, addressed the concluding session of the recent 78th ZOA national convention in Chicago. The convention took place Oct. 2-5. The ZOA clarification was in connection with remarks attributed to Klutznick concerning the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Actually, the ZOA statement of clarification said Klutznick was not even present at the concluding session Oct. 5, at which time he was already in Israel. He addressed the convention on Oct. 3, when he and Jacques Torczyner, a past president of the ZOA, participated in a symposium on the subject; “Should American Jews Intervene In Israeli Affairs?”
Furthermore, the ZOA statement of clarification continued, Klutznick was misquoted in remarks he made in the course of the symposium regarding the Conference of Presidents. While he did mention that ” it was not good for Israel to have a benign Jewish community in the United States, “and while he advocated a more independent stance of American Jewry on issues concerning Israel, he did not suggest in any way that the Conference of Presidents should be disbanded or replaced.
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