When Mort Klein’s daughter got married six years ago, former Rep. James Saxton (R-N.J.) told the Zionist Organization of America president that he could only stay for about an hour. But he got there, started enjoying the food and dancing, and stayed for the whole affair. He and Klein even did their own “private rendition” of the hora.
“As great a congressman as he was, he was an even greater Jewish-Chasidic-Methodist dancer,” recalls Klein, who was one of two speakers – along with Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) — this past Sunday at a retirement party for Saxton at a kosher restaurant in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Saxton retired from the House of Representatives this fall after 24 years on Capitol Hill. Klein paid tribute to the 66-year-old as the first congressman, back in 1994, to publicly focus on the need for Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its obligations under the Oslo Accords before Israel made any more concessions.
“He was the first congressman to make an issue out of compliance and Arafat not fulfilling obligations,” said Klein. “It took tremendous courage back then.”
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