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Covering up? Edgar Bronfman, Sr. and Rabbi Israel Singer.
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11/05
Daniel Ganzfried, FACTS |
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11/05
Daniel Ganzfried, FACTS |
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11/18
swissinfo |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners November 17, 2004 |
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The efforts of World Jewish Congress Chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. and senior WJC executive Rabbi Israel Singer to expel Australian-born Israeli Isi Leibler from the organization has found a new battleground in Europe. The European Jewish Congress demanded Leibler's resignation from the organization, triggering a rebellion by the Swiss delegation, which backed Leibler's call for a public audit of alleged financial irregularities.
The expulsion by the EJC, an roof organization of national Jewish federations dependent on the WJC in New York to the tune of $500,000 annually, came six weeks after Leibler, the WJC's senior vice president, was ordered by Bronfman to cease all activity for the organization, a command Leibler, who serves as Senior Vice President rejected, saying that he had been democratically elected by the organization's general assembly and could be removed only by that body.
Leibler elicited the wrath of Bronfman and Singer after he called in an internal memo for an audit of financial irregularities, including an off-the-books bank account worth $1.2 million reportedly transferred to a friend of Singer, who later explained that the funds were intended for the "pensions" of WJC personnel, himself included. Other than Singer and Bronfman, Leibler claims, the WJC was never informed of this account.
Switzerland has become the focal point of the spreading scandal. Last week, the influential Facts magazine ran an investigative article, "The Rabbi and the Geneva Account" (English translation) by noted Swiss author Daniel Ganzfried. The questionable use of public funds has raised eyebrows and concerns both within the WJC and, reportedly, among law enforcement officials.
Last week, the Swiss Jewish weekly publication TACHLES reported that the friend's account in London, to which the $1.2M were transferred, was apparently held in trust for Israel Singer and his wife Evelyne. If this proves true, it would undermine the WJC's claim that the money remained deposited in a secure account and never left the control of the WJC.
A dynamic duo
Seagram liquor heir Edgar Bronfman is a leading benefactor of Jewish educational and communal initiatives as well as diverse liberal causes, working closely in Israel with Shimon Peres. Together with Israel Singer, Bronfman has championed the restitution of Holocaust era funds accumulating in European banks to Jewish owners.
Israel Singer and Edgar Bronfman effectively reinvented the WJC in 1981. Singer had completed his rabbinical degree and worked during the 70's as a college lecturer, before entering the WJC, then in the midst of a financial crisis. Singer convinced Bronfman to assume the top position of the organization, despite the fact that Bronfman, as he wrote in his autobiography, in his youth turned his back on the Jewish religion in protest against his domineering father.
As a recent article in the Neue Zuricher Zeitung reports, "Rabbi Singer brought him back to religion and made it clear, that as a powerful businessman, he was obliged not only to provide donations, but also to actively do 'something for the Jewish cause.' This turned out to be fortunate for both of them: since as a spokesman for Judaism, Bronfman was able to exploit his economic clout for political influence, and Singer gained a financier who wiped out WJC debts."
The accomplishments of the two were tremendous, including bringing down Kurt Waldheim for his Nazi past and forcing Swiss and other banks to compensate contemporary Jews, and world Jewry, for holdings of Jewish Holocaust-era funds that were never claimed.
Singer has continued to be an outspoken and capable spokesman for the Jewish people, especially in clashes with European officials.
In a recent visit to Israel, Singer demanded full transparency and accountability by Israeli banks for the accounts of Holocaust victims.
The irony of a hidden Swiss account
The WJC is evidently less receptive to such independent fiscal scrutiny, especially since published reports indicate that the $1.2M deposit was made by the Jewish Agency as a tribute for Singer's work in Holocaust era funds restitution, according to published reports.
Leibler's call for a comprehensive and independent public audit, circulated in a private memo and apparently leaked by parties unknown, triggered a furious reaction from Bronfman and Singer.
Although Bronfman was originally the primary benefactor of the WJC, generously funding the organization for years. More recently, under the leadership of former executive vice president Elan Steinberg -- who was also summarily dismissed with Leibler six weeks ago -- the organization has been successful in grass roots fundraising, bringing in millions of dollars annually from a reported donor base of 400,000, mostly in the United States.
The WJC's financial activities and use of funds reportedly had never before been subjected to an independent audit. According to Leibler, all key decisions were made by Bronfman and a balance sheet was never submitted for external review.
The money in question was transferred from New York to Geneva and later to London, by way of Israel, "with no explanation," Leibler said. "There is sufficient information that makes it mandatory that an organization of this nature have an independent audit . . . . I was never made privy to the financial expenditures of the organization which is somewhat unusual." Leibler at the time was part of the WJC's three-member operations committee.
Leibler said that Bronfman was particularly reluctant to make the WJC more financially transparent, because "if you pay for an organization yourself... your inclination is to run it the way you want." He insisted, though, that the WJC is "no longer a private company" under Bronfman's financial leadership, but one that "belongs to the Jewish people."
Bronfman and Singer, for their part, have accused Leibler of using his demand for a financial audit as an excuse to increase his power inside the organization.
Sparring over the fence
The poisoned blood between Edgar Bronfman Sr. and Isi Leibler came out into the open in Augusut 2003 after the former submitted an open letter to President Bush critical of the Sharon government and, specifically, opposing Israel's separation fence. Leibler objected strongly to Bronfman's intervention in the matter, calling the letter to Bush "obscene" and an "outrageous act."
"It would be obscene at any time for the president of the World Jewish Congress, resident of New York, to lobby the president of the United States to resist policies being promoted by the government of Israel," Leibler wrote, demanding that Bronfman "retract and apologize" or resign. Bronfman lashed back in an email sent to the New York Sun. "I don't deny Isi Leibler his right to say whatever he chooses, even if he is to the right of Genghis Khan, and a fool to boot."
Bronfman, in an e-mail to The New York Sun, labeled Leibler an "arrogant twit," who "has decided that God is dead and he is taking His place."
Following the flap, the two reportedly reached a tense "ceasefire" which held, at least publicly, until the following summer.
Swiss objections
The effort to purge Leibler from the EJC ran into a hitch this week when the influential Swiss Jewish Federation, led by Alfred Donath, backed Leibler's demand for an audit and objected to his summary dismissal. Sources close to the organization said the EJC has threatened to expel the Swiss delegation for its defense of Leibler, its objection to the manner in which he was treated, and its endorsement of his call for fiscal transparency.
Leibler was not allowed to present his response to the EJC condemnation, a denial to which he strongly objected in a written response subsequently distributed to its Executive Committee: "To condemn a colleague in his absence without even enabling him to defend himself is a blatant denial of natural justice and amounts to a kangaroo court. It is not the behavior one would expect from responsible Jewish leaders."
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities this week called for an external, independent audit of the WJC's Geneva office after it came to light that Singer's account was not registered there. The office was closed in April at short notice and without explanation.
According to a report in swissinfo, Donath "said he had been calling for an independent audit since April. He also threatened to pull his federation out of the WJC if no moves were made to set up such an audit. The WJC rejected the calls, on the grounds that internal investigations had shown that all suspicions about the account were unfounded. In a related move, the European Jewish Congress has since threatened to remove Donath from his seat on its own presiding board.
Ganzfried, in a follow-up article in FACTS, reports "Donath says Singer called him recently from a Paris hotel, and threatened, 'I will destroy you -- you and your family.' These threats followed a series of insults, of which the word 'crook' was one of the milder expressions, and the threat to drag Donath into a religious Jewish court was the most bizarre." When FACTS tried to confront Singer with Donath's quotes, Singer reportedly disconnected the line.
Donath, swissinfo reported, said he would not back down and has renewed calls for an audit in a letter sent Monday to the WJC.
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