World Jewish News

ECAJ issues ultimatum to WJC on $7.5-million Leibler libel suit

THE Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) will quit its membership of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) unless it drops its NIS26.5-million ($A7.5m) libel suit against veteran Jewish leader Isi Leibler by July 25.
This is the ultimatum issued by the ECAJ on Tuesday after an extraordinary meeting in Melbourne last Thursday night between its committee of management and the American-based WJC's secretary-general, Stephen Herbits, who flew into Australia for last-ditch talks.
Herbits' 48-hour dash to Melbourne followed a three-month stalemate after the ECAJ sent a February 28 letter to the WJC urging it to drop the libel suit against Leibler, a former ECAJ president and WJC senior vice-president, and threatening its withdrawal from the WJC.
But ECAJ president Grahame Leonard said this week the committee was unconvinced by Herbits' case, and the resolution resolved "with considerable regret" to stand by its position to withdraw from the global roof body unless the WJC backs down.
It is believed to be the first time the ECAJ, which joined the WJC in 1944, has sought to cede its membership of the 70-year-old New York-based world body which aims to address the needs of Jews and Jewish communities around the world.
The WJC claims Leibler has launched "slanderous claims [against it which] have cost the WJC valuable resources that should have gone to address the needs of the Jewish people". Leibler claims he blew the whistle on financial irregularities which were proven by an investigation of the New York State attorney-general.
But the ECAJ memorandum, sighted by the AJN, stated that the WJC's libel suit "is highly unlikely to achieve any of the purposes for which it was allegedly brought; is likely to take many years to resolve ... will be hugely disruptive to the ongoing mission and reputation of the WJC and others ... [and] will be extremely expensive ..."
Leonard, in a letter the ECAJ sent to Herbits on Tuesday, wrote: "Discontinue this lawsuit, which will only harm if not destroy, and build on the WJC's impressive positive achievements for Klal Yisrael."
Leonard told the AJN this week the July 25 deadline - one week after the WJC's next steering committee meeting -- is a "reasonable timeframe" for the matter to be resolved.
But in a statement to the AJN, Herbits said he flew to Melbourne last week because he has "the deepest respect for the Australian Jewish community", but claimed there is "no doubt" that if the "overwhelming evidence" against Leibler reached court, "he will lose".
"Instead of accepting the determination of the tough and demanding investigation by the New York State Attorney-General, which specifically rejected or dismissed several of Leibler's allegations, there are those who want to prevent a full and fair hearing in the impartial setting of a court of law."
Herbits added that the WJC is willing to "enter settlement negotiations with Leibler on the basis of his ceasing his self-described 'war' and media campaign".
The ECAJ's ultimatum, he said, makes a resolution of the dispute "less, not more, likely".
But Leonard said the ECAJ had acted in the best interests of the WJC. "We want very much to be part of a WJC that's well governed, well resourced and focused on its mission of serving world Jewish communities."
The ECAJ's demand to drop the lawsuit is a matter of principle and not merely a defence of Leibler, who now lives in Jerusalem, Leonard added.
"In fact, it's unfortunate that it's Isi Leibler because that has absolutely nothing to do with our reasons for the stand the ECAJ is taking. It's about having a properly-governed WJC," Leonard said.
Leibler told the AJN from Israel on Tuesday: "I'm delighted the ECAJ has acted in this manner but it's important to note that they did so on the merits of the issue and not on the basis of my previous association with the Jewish community.
"I believe the WJC will ultimately be forced to face up to its responsibilities, withdraw the suit, and re-introduce governance and financial transparency as required by the determination of the [New York State] Attorney-General."
Leibler said he would not consider any settlement of the case and would contest the libel suit in court if the WJC did not drop it.
The WJC filed its libel suit against Leibler in the Tel Aviv District Court on January 31 following a 2004 memo, which was later leaked to the media, in which Leibler raised questions about a sum of $US1.2 million in a Swiss bank account under the control of then WJC chairman Rabbi Israel Singer.
The leak led to a bitter row between Leibler, Rabbi Singer and WJC president Edgar Bronfman, which prompted Leibler's expulsion from a WJC steering committee. At an acrimonious WJC assembly in January 2005, Leibler did not stand for re-election as senior vice-president.
On the same day the lawsuit was filed in January, the New York State Attorney-General's Office released a report of an investigation it had conducted into the WJC's financial dealings, which both sides claimed vindicated their case.
With the release of the report, Rabbi Singer stepped down as chairman and agreed not to hold any finance-related position in the WJC and to repay $US300,000 in personal expenses he had charged the organisation. At the time, he had already repaid $215,000 of that sum.

Источник: ajn.com.au