Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The ZOA strongly supports President Trump’s statement during his inaugural address: “We will eradicate radical Islamic terrorism from the face of the earth.”  Eradicating the scourge of radical Islamist terrorism is critically important for America, Israel, the Jewish people, all other creeds attacked by radical Islamists, Western civilization and the entire world.   

After radical Islamists bombed the Boston Marathon; shot their colleagues at the San Bernadino Christmas party; slaughtered 49 club-goers at the Pulse nightclub; massacred travelers at Fort Lauderdale Airport; and knifed, gunned down, bombed and drove trucks over innocent Jews and others in Israel, America and countries throughout the world, we can no longer allow exagerated complaints about “discrimination” and “Islamophobia” stop us from defending ourselves and taking the necessary steps to end the scourge or radical Islamist attacks. 

We must surveil and stop radical Imams and mosques that incite violent attacks by preaching and teaching their members to “kill the infidel” and destroy Israel and the United States.  

We must stop condemning Israel for combating the horrific murders of innocent Jews who were sleeping in their beds, praying in synagogues and walking on the street, perpetrated by Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah, PFLP, ISIS and PLO/Palestinian Authority Islamist terrorists.

Restricting Muslim immigration from areas where vetting is virtually impossible – at least until proper vetting can be done – is also an important part of the equation, if we want to keep the U.S. from becoming like Europe’s “no go” zones; and like the German train stations where Islamists assaulted over 1,000 innocent women; and like the magazine headquarters, beaches, churches, synagogues, kosher butcher shops, cafes, airports, schools, concert halls, museums and streets in France and Sweden that have been the sites of fatal attacks by radical Islamists. 

We must heed the warnings of our national security experts that Syrian Muslim refugees cannot be vetted and will be infiltrated by ISIS, and that information is also virtually nonexistent for vetting refugee pipelines from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan.  (See, e.g. “ZOA Opposes Bringing in ISIS Infiltrated Syrian Refugees,” Dec. 8, 2015, describing warnings from Obama’s FBI Director James Comey; Homeland Security Chairman Congressman Peter King; James Clapper, Obama’s Director of National Intelligence; House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Congressman Bob Goodlatte; former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy; a Lebanese minister; etc.)   

ZOA again strongly appreciates and commends President Trump for understanding and acting on the need to keep all of us safe from radical Islamist terrorism.