Israel Singer

Israel Singer (born 29 July 1942 in New York City) was secretary general of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) from 1986 to 2001.

Life

Singer grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Austrian refugees. He taught political science and political theories in New York and at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

In 1987, WJC leaders Israel Singer and Elan Steinberg warned, referring to Kurt Waldheim, "... Austrians that if they elected a former Nazi as president they would experience six difficult years."^[1]

In 1996, the Reuters news agency reported that at a meeting of the WJC congress in Buenos Aires, Singer said "more than three million Jews died in Poland and the Polish people are not going to be the heirs of the Polish Jews. We are never going to allow this.... They're gonna hear from us until Poland freezes over again. If Poland does not satisfy Jewish claims it will be publicly attacked and humiliated."^[2]

Singer has been an activist and advocate on behalf of the victims of the Holocaust. As chairman of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), he managed efforts to compensate Holocaust survivors monetarily. He also negotiated with Germany and Austria about annuities and compensation for survivors.

In October 2001, he was appointed chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress (WJC). In 2002 he was elected president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, the "Claims Conference". In June 2002 he was appointed chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC).

On March 14, 2007, Singer was dismissed from the organization by WJC President Edgar M. Bronfman, amid accusations of embezzlement of funds.^[3] The claims, however, were never proven true.^[4] The Attorney General of the State of New York investigation issued a formal Assurance of Discontinuance ^[5] which Singer signed in January, 2006. That report required that he be removed from any responsibility of financial activity within the WJC, resign from his position of Chairman of the WJC Governing Board, and accept an advisory position as the head of a newly formed committee. Singer was later terminated as additional information came to light. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

Israel Singer is a co-founder of Yahad-In Unum, an organization founded by priest Patrick Desbois dedicated to research on the "Holocaust by bullets".^[11]

Books

• Norman G. Finkelstein (2003). The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Verso. ISBN 978-1859844885. 
• Levin, Itamar; Natasha Dornberg (translator); forewords by Edgar Bronfman, Israel Singer, and Avraham Burg (1999). The last deposit: Swiss banks and Holocaust victims' accounts. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 978-0275965204. 
• Gregg J. Rickman (1999). Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1560004264. 

Notes

External links

• Yad Vashem Interview
• 2003 "Restitution: The Second Round: An Interview with Israel Singer". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. November 2, 2003. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
• Webcast about Iran "World Jewish Congress & Iran". isracast.com. February 10, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
• Amiram Barkat (March 22, 2007). "Israel Singer fired from WJC for Allegedly Embezzling Funds". Haaretz. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
• Stephanie Strom (March 16, 2007). "World Jewish Congress Dismisses Leader". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
• "Q&A with WJC Chairman Israel Singer". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2014.