Survivor group opposes Singer

The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants will not support the re-election of Israel Singer as Claims Conference president.The decision, made after what was described as a heated debate Tuesday, makes the American Gathering the third of the conference’s 24 member organizations to take a public position on Singer, who was fired from the World Jewish Congress in March after years of allegations of financial mismanagement. The other two are Agudath Israel World Organization, which is supporting Singer, and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Inc., which opposes him.While the American Gathering “recognizes Israel Singer’s extraordinary accomplishments on behalf of Holocaust survivors, the organization cannot support his re-election as president of the Claims Conference,” the group said in a statement released Tuesday night.