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Covering up? Edgar Bronfman and Israel Singer.
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| By Associated Press January 10, 2005 |
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A meeting of the World Jewish Congress meant to highlight anti-Semitism in Europe was thrown into turmoil Monday by allegations of mismanagement at the organization's New York headquarters.
The start of the two-day plenary assembly, which drew some 500 delegates from around the world, was dominated by heated discussions over how the WJC and President Edgar M. Bronfman handles donated money.
The New York State Attorney General's office started an informal investigation late last year after outgoing WJC Vice President Isi Leibler claimed that some $1.5 million given to the WJC was secretly syphoned to a Swiss bank account.
Leibler and Daniel Lack, a lawyer who formally worked for the WJC office in Geneva, said the office there was unaware of the account.
Their allegations have been backed by the Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
The money was given by Israel's Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization, which makes regular donations to the WJC.
Leibler's claims that WJC's longtime Chairman Israel Singer was also receiving questionable payments led to a chaotic debate at the assembly's meeting. In the end, Leibler decided not to run for re-election after he was prevented from address the plenum and presenting his viewpoint.
Leibler told Haaretz yesterday that he was resigning because he "came to the conclusion that I cannot remain in an organization that requires me to give a stamp of approval to activities I deem inappropriate, and after it became clear to me that I will not be reelected to the position."
Leibler said that despite his resignation, "the organization will hear from me if they don't make good on their promise to rectify the manner in which it is run, which, as they also admit today, is inappropriate."
WJC executives were quick to deny any wrongdoing and said they have worked to improve transparency over how its funds are spent.
"The allegations were false in the first place," said WJC Secretary General Stephen Herbits, who was tasked by Bronfman to check for any irregularities in the WJC's $10 million annual budget.
He said the WJC had undertaken four independent audits, none of which found irregularities.
Herbits acknowledged that reforms were needed to improve management and controls at the nonprofit organization which was set up to promote Jewish rights and which has collected millions of dollars in Holocaust restitution payments on behalf of victims around the globe.
Leibler, who faced hecklers during a debate on the issue, said the four audits were neither independent nor complete. He called for a new and independent audit.
His comments to the assembly angered many delegates.
Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, said "this whole story of money disappearing" was nonsense.
Bronfman stayed clear of the controversy and concentrated instead on the need for the WJC to push European nations and others to do more to combat attacks against Jews.
"We remain on guard against violence and hate," Bronfman said. "We must combat anti-Semitism in Europe ... and throughout the world."
Bronfman also welcomed the election of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority president, saying his election could pave the way to "lasting peace" between the two sides.
In a speech to the delegates, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt called on all European governments to "make every effort to curb" a surge in attacks against Jews.
"We have already seen how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict causes tensions and aggression in other countries, even here in Belgium. This is and remains unacceptable," he said.
The WJC executive is to meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso after the session Tuesday to ask the European Union to adopt similar monitoring standards to those in the United States to fight anti-Semitism.
Bronfman called for the EU to boost education programs against racism and anti-Semitism, and to "fight the demonization of Israel in the intellectual press."
The EU came under pressure last year from Israel and Jewish groups to do more to fight a rise in attacks against Jews across Europe.
The Brussels session was also to address ways to improve "inter-religious dialogue" with other faiths, including Islam. The plenary session is to push for setting up a "global panel on Jewish-Muslim relations."
The WJC acts as an umbrella group representing Jewish communities in over 80 countries around the world.
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