[14] The ZOA helped mobilized political support in the United States for Israel, with large scale funding and pressure on Washington and on public opinion.

They opposed the social and economic policies of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his Mapai (Labor) Party, according to historian Zohar Segev.

[17] Tom Tugend of The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles noted that Ames' career was far behind him and made particular note of his role as an actor on the Daniel Boone TV series, before going on to say, "Founded in 1896, ZOA had been in decline from its heyday under the leadership of Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, but has regained some prominence since the energetic and vocal Klein assumed the presidency 10 years ago," having been elected in 1993 and assuming office in 1994.

The ZOA criticized Mitchell because he "believes both sides are equally at fault" and that "settlements are the main problem, not the Palestinian Arabs' refusal to end terrorism.

In 2012 ZOA lost its charitable status in the United States, having failed to provide the Internal Revenue Service with tax returns for three consecutive years.

[25] In January 2018, ZOA president Mort Klein went on a paid trip to Qatar to meet with the Emir, at his invitation; he also met with a number of senior officials.

The visit was strongly criticized by some supporters of Israel,[26][27] and according to Mother Jones magazine, the trip coincided with a softening of the ZOA's stance regarding that country.

[29] In a subsequent March 2018 interview, Klein praised Qatar for flying an Israeli flag at a recent handball tournament and said the Emir told him that "last summer they stopped funding terrorist groups.

[37] The ZOA today works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations through educational activities,[38] by combating what it perceives as anti-Israel bias in the media, textbooks, travel guides, and on college campuses.

[39] The ZOA is responsible for founding the Kfar Silver school, which provides education and vocational training for new Jewish immigrants and others on a 500-acre (2.0 km2) campus near Ashkelon.

Recipients include Miriam Adelson, Joe Biden, Abba Eban, Justice Arthur Goldberg, Ronald Lauder, Natan Sharansky, Simon Wiesenthal, Elizabeth Taylor, Mortimer Zuckerman,[40] Raanan Gissin and Frank Gaffney.

[42] On January 8, 2019, The Times of Israel report that the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations reprimanded the ZOA for insulting other members.