New York, NY, February 4, 2002 ... Motorola has assured the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that it is taking steps to correct a User Manual provided with some cellular phones sold in Europe that gives a service support number for "Palestine," but not for Israel.

Motorola first learned of the mistake in December 2001 after receiving numerous complaints about the User Manual from its customers in Europe. Since then, several e-mail messages have been circulated worldwide suggesting that the company must have a political or anti-Israel agenda. ADL has determined that there is no truth to this charge.

After receiving numerous inquiries stemming from the e-mail messages, ADL has been in direct contact with Motorola executives. They assured the League that the reference to "Palestine" was an error and that future editions of the User Manual will include a service number for Israel and another for "areas under the Palestinian Authority."

Norman D. Sandler, Director of Global Strategic Issues for Motorola, indicated in a letter to ADL that the mistake was limited to User Manuals supplied with mobile phone handsets sold in some European countries. He said that Motorola had taken numerous steps to correct the mistake since first learning of the problem in December.

"We have conducted an extensive internal review and confirmed our initial assumption that this was an unfortunate but inadvertent mistake, with no political intent," Mr. Sandler wrote in a letter to Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "We have taken a series of remedial steps since learning of this issue, including an immediate effort to revise our online manuals and replace or amend those published versions now in inventory."

Motorola has issued a public statement on the company's Web site indicating that the company had taken several corrective steps, including:

• Establishing a consumer inquiry telephone number for Israel;
• Rectifying the issue in new manuals and amending current manuals;
• Clarifying the reference to areas under the Palestinian Authority;
• Providing instruction to Motorola customer-service personnel on this issue.

Motorola assured ADL that the company maintains a "substantial presence in Israel," with business operations that date back to 1964. Motorola Israel Ltd. is regarded as "an active, influential and responsible corporate citizen," Mr. Sandler said.

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.