(JTA) — Two groups quoted in a letter from 400 rabbis criticizing Fox News channel for Glenn Beck’s Holocaust reference disassociated themselves from the letter.
The Jewish Funds for Justice-sponsored letter sent to Fox News also appeared in a full page advertisement published in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 27.
The letter quoted Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman, who is a child survivor of the Holocaust, as saying that Beck’s attacks on billionaire George Soros, a Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivor, are "not only offensive, but horrific, over-the-top and out-of-line."
It also quoted Elan Steinberg, vice president of The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust survivors, as saying that Beck’s accusations against Soros were "monstrous."
"I want to make it clear, for the record, that I do not support this misguided campaign against Fox News, even though my name was used," Foxman said in a letter published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.
"At a time when Holocaust denial is rampant in much of the Arab world, where anti-Semitism remains a serious concern, and where the Iranian leader has openly declared his desire to ‘wipe Israel off the map,’ surely there are greater enemies and threats to the Jewish people than the pro-Israel stalwarts Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck," Foxman’s letter concluded.
In another letter appearing the same day, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, vice president of the American Gathering, said that Steinberg "has no more right than I do to speak in the name of the survivors on this topic." He added that "in my 30 years of participation in large-scale annual commemorations, I have yet to meet a survivor who expressed support for Mr. Soros."
Soros, 80, has been slammed in some Jewish circles over his calls for increased U.S. engagement in the Middle East peace process and his strong criticism of Israeli policies.
