The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is appalled that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management decided that Jewish-American dentist Dr. Gershon Pincus has “divided loyalties” and denied the dentist’s security clearance for the sole reason that Dr. Pincus has an elderly mother, brother and sister living in Israel.   The security clearance denial means that Dr. Pincus will lose his dream job serving our American troops as a dentist at an off-base U.S. Navy clinic.   

Dr. Pincus is not alone.  A Wall Street Journal Op Ed by Bret Stephens also reported the shocking fact that during the the Obama administration, there have been 58 cases in which Israeli ties were a significant factor – and in 36 cases, the applicant’s security clearance was denied.

ZOA President Morton A. Klein stated:  “It is shameful that the federal government is invoking baseless, blatantly anti-Semitic accusations of “divided loyalty” merely because a Jewish American citizen has a relative in Israel – and stopping a caring, loyal, skilled dentist from helping our American troops.  It is also extremely concerning that dozens of other Jewish-Americans are apparently facing the same outrageous discrimination.” 

The ZOA joins with other American Jewish organizations to call on Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to review and reverse the denial of Dr. Pincus’s security clearance; and to review and reverse similar discriminatory denials of security clearances to Jewish Americans.   ZOA also calls on Congress and the Obama administration to investigate the Office of Personnel Management’s security clearance process and history.