The World Jewish Congress announced that it has moved its world headquarters from Geneva to New York and set up its European office in Paris. Only Dr. Gerhard Reigner, Secretary General of the WJC, and a small staff remain in Geneva, providing representation at the United Nations office there and some involvement in Christian-Jewish relations, according to Israel Singer, executive directorof the WJC.
Singer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the move was made “to reflect the realities” of the world Jewish population. “We’re moving for Jewish reasons,” he said, explaining that Geneva has one of the smallest Jewish populations in Europe, while Paris has the largest. The world headquarters were moved to New York because that has the largest Jewish population in the world, Singer noted.
He added that the headquarters had remained in Geneva until now because the WJC was “historically” tied to that city. It had operated from there during World War II because of Switzerland’s neutral status at that time. Until now, only the American section of the WJC operated out of the New York office.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
