Klein Embarrasses ZOA with Qatar Involvement

The koshering of Qatar by supposedly pro-Israel Jews is getting attention. PM Netanyahu has rebuked Jewish leaders, including Klein, who have been seduced into a meeting with Qatar.

Read Yigal Carmon’s criticism here. Save the ZOA is also posting below an excerpt from a column in Ha’aretz by Steve Rabinovitz, a friend of Mort, asking: “What Really Turned ZOA’s Mort Klein From a Preacher Against Qatar to Its Propagandist?”

So, how is it that just two months later a former Qatari diplomat and current head of Qatar Investments would attend ZOA’s big fundraising dinner (“Anyone who pays $700 comes to the dinner,” Mort said) and two months after that, Mort would visit Doha on an all-expense-paid trip? 

Surely, Mort can’t be bought with free airfare and lodging, along with some pyjamas, “the softest I ever felt.”

Mort, of course, insists that he accepted the trip to gather information and to speak truth to power. “When an Arab leader asks the head of a Jewish organization to come make a case for what we would like to see happen, it’s really my mission, and it’s ZOA’s mission, to fight for the Jewish people,” he said, noting he distributed to those he met copies of a 50-page report demanding changes from Qatar.

That’s all well and good, but what Mort really did was set himself up as a poster child for the Qataris. And since his trip, all the Qataris and their paid agents in the West have done is hold Mort up as an example of someone who’s for them who used to be against them.

But they haven’t stopped funding Hamas. They haven’t stopped funding the Muslim Brotherhood or the Al Nusra Front. They haven’t deported all those Hamas terrorists living comfortably in exile in Qatar.

That other Jewish leaders were similarly seduced into giving Qatar legitimacy does not spare Klein from similarly criticism. Perhaps next he will go meet with Ayatollah Khameini on a trip paid for by Iran and help improve that country’s image. Save the ZOA strongly suspects that both Mort received special compensation in addition to the free trip, but it will be impossible to prove. In any event, it is sickening.

 

 

Klein Makes Strange Comments About Blacks

#KleinResign! Several news outlets have reported on strange comments Mort Klein has made about Blacks and Asians, offering more evidence that it is long past time for Mort Klein to retire.

From The Forward:

Mort Klein, president of a major Jewish pro-Israel group, berated a Forward reporter who called to ask about a joke Klein had made about black people being good dancers in a national magazine story.

“What are you, stupid? What are you, stupid?” Klein said. “Each different peoples have different talents that everyone knows. And everyone knows that blacks are, on average, are better dancers than other people.”

Klein told the Forward that it is “simply a fact” that “blacks are much better dancers.” He added that “most people know” that Asians “are smarter on average than other people in America.”

Read more: http://forward.com/news/368721/president-of-leading-us-zionist-group-everyone-knows-that-blacks-arebetter/

 

Are Mort Klein and Hillary Clinton Lying About Their Health?

Hillary Clinton’s fainting episode has justifiably caused widespread speculation about whether she is healthy enough to withstand the rigors of the Presidency. This brings to mind Mort Klein’s hysteria and panic attack while confronted with polite questioning in a deposition. Watch this video and draw your own conclusions about Mort Klein’s fitness to be President of the ZOA.

ZOA Avoids Answering Questions About Mort Klein’s Compensation

Steve Goldberg sent questions to ZOA National Executive Director David Drimer regarding Mort Klein’s $1.5 million compensation in 2013, and Mr. Drimer refused to answer “under advice of counsel.” Read the correspondence below.

From: Steven Goldberg <stevengoldberg54@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 2:53 PM
Subject: Re: your query about Klein 2013 compensation
To: “David Drimer (ZOA)” <DDrimer@zoa.org>

Dave,
   Thanks for the response.  I accept your invitation to ask further questions.  Here they are:
1.  Was the $1.5 million in total compensation for 2013 money that belonged to ZOA before it was paid to Mort as salary or put in the trust for his benefit?  Put another way, were ZOA’s assets reduced by that $1.5 million?
2.   Will Mort receive the $1.5 million? If so, when is he eligible to take it?
3.  When did the Board approve this compensation to Mort, and are there minutes?
3.  The Form 990 for 2008 reflects that Mort received total compensation of more than $1.2 million that year.  I thought that figure included money set aside for his retirement.  Is that correct? If so, how much, and why such a large amount again in 2013?
4.   Who was the 3rd party compensation consultant who recommended such a large payment to Mort, when was he retained, when did he make his recommendation, was it in writing, and was it ever shared and discussed at a board meeting before or during 2013?  If so, are there minutes of that meeting?
5.  Who was the ERISA attorney who “reviewed in depth” the compensation to Mort, did he actually approve the figure, who suggested it to him, did he ever issue a report in writing, and was it ever shared and discussed at a board meeting before or during 2013? If so, are there minutes of that meeting?
6.  My review of the recent Form 990s indicates that for the 6 years running from 2008 through 2013 Mort received total compensation of $4,942,112, which averages out to $823,685,333 per year. For the 13 years from 2001 through 2013 the Form 990s show that Mort received total compensation of $6,482,136, which averages out to $496.620.145,  Do you disagree with my calculations?
7.  Did the Board ever vote to approve such compensation? If so, when, and are there minutes?
8.  How does Mort’s compensation over the 6 year period from 2008 through 2013 compare to the compensation of presidents of other Jewish organizations?  Looking at the Form 990s, it appears that Mort’s compensation has comprised about 30% of the total donations do the ZOA during that time period.  Are there other Jewish organizations who have paid their presidents such a high percentage?  Is there any organization who has paid its president even 15% of total donations over that time period or in any one year?  Has the Board ever concerned itself with whether Mort’s compensation is reasonable as a percentage of donations as compared to other Jewish organizations? If so, when did it consider the issue, what was done to investigate it,  and what were the results?
9.  What was Mort’s compensation for 2014, when was it approved by the board, and what were total donations for the year?
     I understand why Mort is defensive about this, and you are doing an excellent job trying to justify a decision you did not make.  Nevertheless, a non-profit that pays its president more than $1.5 million in a calendar year without a board meeting needs to be able to explain why that happened.  If no present board member has asked these questions, it speaks volumes about the quality of board oversight.
      I look forward to your response.
                Steve
From: “David Drimer (ZOA)” <DDrimer@zoa.org>
Date: February 6, 2015 at 09:47:40 PST
To: Steven Goldberg <stevengoldberg54@gmail.com>
Cc: Greg Lam <GregLam@cckc-law.com>
Subject: folllow up questions on rabbi trust
Dear Steve:

Under advice of counsel, I am not going to answer each of your questions individually. I can pretty much summarize all the 9 questions into one.  You apparently feel Mort was/is paid too much.  You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but that opinion doesn’t jibe with the opinion of at least a majority of the Board – if not the entire Board — of the ZOA.

Mort did NOT receive excess compensation. The ZOA clearly intended to pay the compensation and approved the compensation – it’s reported in the 990.  It is a matter of public record.  This includes the clearly delineated amounts from the Rabbi Trust.

Many people within the ZOA have been involved in this, including outside counsel and compensation consultants, and the ZOA feels it has appropriately dealt with, approved, and reported Mort’s compensation.  Rabbi trusts are appropriate methods of dealing with deferred compensation – and his payments above base salary simply come from that trust arrangement.  I note again these were properly documented on the relevant schedules in the 990 over the relevant range of activity/timeframes.

I acknowledge this is not as fulsome an answer as you had hoped, but re-creating the history of all of this would be overly burdensome given the other pressing matters I have to deal with.  Most importantly, Mort’s compensation has been appropriately reviewed by the appropriate bodies within the ZOA and transparently reported on its IRS filings.

Sincerely,

Dave

David P. Drimer, National Executive Director

ZOA
4 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
Work (212) 481-1500 Cell (917) 929-6219

 

Mort Klein Hates This Website

Mort Klein hates this website and has retained a lawyer to threaten Steve Goldberg with civil litigation and criminal prosecution unless Steve takes down this website and gives Mort Klein the website domain name www.mortklein.com.

Steve Goldberg will not be bullied by Mort Klein and will not give up his legal rights. Please read the exchange of letters below if you wish to see the chain of correspondence:

Letter from Mort Klein’s attorney falsely accusing Steve Goldberg and demanding he take down this website

Response by Steve Goldberg’s attorney

Letter with more false allegations and a threat to prosecute

Additional response by Steve Goldberg’s attorney

End the corruption of Mort Klein