New York, NY, December 27, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today issued the following statement on the death of President Gerald R. Ford:

During his Presidency, Gerald Ford was involved with several issues of deep concern to American Jews.

In the struggle for Soviet Jewry, President Ford will be remembered for signing the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, linking U.S. trade benefits known as Most Favored-Nation Status to emigration and the Helsinki Accords,  in which 35 nations, including the USSR, agreed to respect basic human rights, providing additional leverage for the U.S. in the fight to free Soviet Jews.

In the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger continued his intense efforts at shuttle diplomacy under the Ford Administration, culminating in an interim agreement between Israel and Egypt.  President Ford supported a strong Israel and worked with partial success to oppose the international Arab boycott of companies doing business with Israel.

President Ford deplored the infamous 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism as a “wholly unjustified action.”

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.