Israel Singer (born 29 July 1942 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) was secretary general of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

(WJC) from 1986 to 2007.

Life

Singer grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Austrian refugees. He teaches political science in

Touro University, New York Touro University is a private Jewish university in New York City, New York. It was founded by Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander in 1971, and named for Isaac and Judah Touro. It is a part of the Touro University System. Its mission includes a strong ...

Lander College for Men The Lander College for Men is a private men's division of Touro University System located in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York City. Its stated goal is to provide a college curriculum while maintaining a traditional Yeshiva environment. Gener ...

, and taught at the

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

in Israel. Singer has been an activist and advocate on behalf of the victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. As chairman of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), he managed efforts to compensate

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

monetarily. He also negotiated with Germany and Austria about

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, m ...

and compensation for survivors. In October 2001, he was appointed chairman of the Governing Board of the

(WJC). In 2002, he was elected president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, the "

Claims Conference The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, represents the world's Jews in negotiating for compensation and restitution for victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. According to Section 2(1)(3) of the Proper ...

". In June 2002, he was appointed chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). On January 11, 2005, Singer was forced to resign his post as Secretary General of the WJC at its Plenary Meeting in Brussels. A replacement was elected and Singer was given a position with no financial responsibilities as Chair of the WJC Policy Committee. Israel Singer is a co-founder of Yahad-In Unum, an organization founded by priest

Patrick Desbois Patrick Desbois (born 1955, in Chalon-sur-Saône) is a French Roman Catholic priest, former head of the Commission for Relations with Judaism of the French Bishops' Conference and consultant to the Vatican. He is the founder of the Yahad-In Unu ...

, and dedicated to research on the "Holocaust by bullets". Singer also acted as vice-chairman of the

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

Council.

Controversies

WJC scandal and resignation

On 14 March 2007 Singer was forced to resign from the WJC as a result of alleged misappropriation of financial resources. The Assurance of Discontinuance from the New York Attorney General describes in detail much of Singer's actions that lead to his termination. On 17 August 2007, lawsuits were filed by both Bronfman and the WJC in the Supreme Court of New York County; Bronfman's suit claimed "that Singer did not pay back more than $500,000 in personal loans stemming from a 2004 investigation by the New York State Attorney General into the WJC's finances." As a result of that investigation, Singer was required to pay back more than $300,000 to the organization. The WJC suit claimed that Singer "never returned WJC property such as computers, televisions, cellular phones and BlackBerries, that amount to $19,500."''CJN''
WJC and Bronfman sue Singer"; ''Cleveland Jewish News''; 24 Aug 2007.

Books

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Notes

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Israel 1942 births Living people 20th-century American Jews American activists American political scientists 21st-century American Jews