To: POLITICAL EDITORS

Contact: Kenneth Bandler, Director of Public Relations and Communications, +1-212-891-6771, bandlerk@ajc.org

NEW YORK, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned the Rev. Jesse Jackson's statement about "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades."

"Rev. Jackson's remarks, which appeared in an interview with the journalist Amir Taheri in today's New York Post, echo classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "This statement, regrettably, is not the first troubling comment by Rev. Jackson regarding Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people."

"As poll after poll has revealed, over a span of decades, the United States is deeply committed to Israel because the vast majority of Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, identify with Israel as a proven friend and ally," said Harris. "It is this commonality of shared values and shared interests, and not Jackson's conspiratorial notions of power, that unite Israel and America."

Rev. Jackson made his remark at a conference on international relations in France last week.

Arguing as a private citizen that an Obama administration could bring significant change to U.S. foreign policy, Jackson was quoted as saying that "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" would lose much of their influence should Senator Obama be elected president.

Harris expressed AJC's appreciation that the Obama presidential campaign was quick to reject Jackson's comments and reaffirm the senator's "unshakeable commitment to Israel's security."

AJC is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) organization that does not endorse or oppose candidates for office.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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