NEW YORK – Veteran Jewish community professional Murray Tenenbaum has been named Director of Government Relations by the national Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).

Mr. Tenenbaum will be responsible for directing the ZOA’s extensive efforts to strengthen America-Israel relation and educate Members of Congress and the administration about issues affecting Israel. Ben Lerner will continue in his present position, as Deputy Director of Government Relations.

Mr. Tenenbaum has a lengthy and distinguished record of service to the Jewish community. After completing his M.A. in Political Science at UCLA, he served as a Community Relations Regional Consultant for the Los Angeles office of the American Jewish Committee and then Associate Director of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, where he was responsible for all government relations programs and policies.

He served as executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, where he developed extensive contacts with federal, state, and local government officials, implemented leadership development programs, and restructured the Council to become the central advocacy and public affairs agency for the influential Washington, D.C.-area Jewish community.

Mr. Tenenbaum has also been a managing partner in M & M Associates, a Los Angeles political consulting and advocacy firm, and a strategic planning consultant for the Baltimore (MD) County Department of Social Services.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “We are pleased and proud that Murray Tenenbaum has joined the national staff of the ZOA and look forward to his tenure as director of one of the ZOA’s most important areas of activity.”