The ZOA recently filed its Form 990 for 2013.  It discloses that for calendar year 2013, Mort Klein received compensation of more than $1.5 million.  Here is a copy of page 15, which sets forth Mort Klein’s compensation, as well as the compensation of the next two highest paid employees.

The link to the Form 990 in its entirety can be found here.

Steve Goldberg was on the ZOA’s Board of Directors, and in fact was National Vice Chair, until March of 2014.  The Board was never informed of Mort Klein’s extraordinary compensation for 2013, and certainly did not vote on it.

A salary of this magnitude for the leader of a non-profit Jewish organization is shocking.  No leader of  Jewish organization has been paid anywhere close to this amount, including leaders of vastly larger and wealthier organizations.  Mort Klein continues to take approximately 30% of all donations to the ZOA for himself.

Upon reviewing the recently filed Form 990, Steve Goldberg sent inquiries to David Drimer, the Executive Director of the ZOA who operates under Mort Klein’s strict orders.  Steve Goldberg accepted Mr. Drimer’s invitation to ask  questions, to which Mr. Drimer sent an e-mail that refused to answer any of Steve Goldberg’s questions “under advice of counsel.” It is apparent Mort Klein and the ZOA have something to hide.

You can read the e-mail thread here.

So for the six year time period from 2008 through 2013,  without a vote by the ZOA’s Board of Directors, Mort Klein was paid a total of $4,942,112 for an average annual income of $823,685, 333.

During this time period the ZOA shrunk in size.  For two of those years the ZOA lost its 501c3 status because it failed to file its Form 990s for 3 consecutive years.  That’s some great management by Mort Klein.

The ZOA’s Board of Directors has shamefully put its head in the sand.  Imagine what the ZOA could have been done with all this money.  Millions could have been invested in growing the ZOA, hiring qualified people, helping besieged Jewish students on college campuses, on activism, on advocacy in the United States and Israel, on lobbying in Washington, D.C.  The ZOA could have been a larger and more effective organization.

Israel and the Jewish people deserve better.

If you would like to Save the ZOA, please contact Steve Goldberg at stevegoldberg54@gmail.com. It’s not late to turn around this once great organization.