Swiss Jews take on World Jewish Congress

Donath (left) wants to know more about Singer's bank account Keystone

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) are on a collision course over alleged financial irregularities.

At the centre of the controversy is a Swiss bank account held by former WJC Secretary-General, Israel Singer.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities 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 the Swiss-Jewish weekly newspaper, “tachles”, the dispute centres on a sum of $1.2 million (SFr1.4 million) that Singer is said to have deposited in a bank account in Geneva. The money was later transferred to accounts in London and New York.

Intervention

Alfred Donath, president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, 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.

Standing firm

Donath says he will not back down and has renewed calls for an audit in a letter sent on Monday to the WJC.

But the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities said it remained open to dialogue with the WJC.

In an interview published on Sunday in the “NZZ am Sonntag” newspaper, its former president, Michael Kohn, stressed the need for unity.

“Unity [among Jewish organisations], which is very important in this period of increased anti-Semitism, could be weakened [by this row],” he said.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities has written once again to the World Jewish Congress (WJC).
It is demanding an explanation as to why the WJC office in Geneva was shut down.
It is also calling for an external, independent audit.
The controversy is over $1.2 million said to have been deposited in a Geneva bank account by former WJC Secretary-General Israel Singer.

In brief

The dispute between the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the WJC has been flaring for months.

It concerns the use of a bank account linked to the WJC’s Geneva office.

$1.2 million is said to have been moved from a Geneva bank account via London to New York.