'He was an ardent, farbrente Zionist,' Mort Klein says of Ed Ames

(JNS) - The singer and actor, who was president of ZOA's California chapter, died on May 21 at the age of 95.

Some 15 or 20 years ago, Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, saw a man who looked a lot like entertainer Ed Ames at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington.

"He was tall. He stood out among everyone," Klein told JNS. "I knew it wasn't Ed Ames, because he was at an AIPAC conference. Ed Ames wouldn't be at an AIPAC conference. He's not a Jew!"

Klein asked the 6-foot-3 man if anyone had ever told him he looked like the...