UJA Says Press Reports About Mismanagement, Rift Are Unfounded

The national United Jewish Appeal moved today to clear up what it termed “a number of rumors and charges about the management of the UJA” which have been circulating for some time in Israel and the United States. Israeli press reports alleged that, among other things, a committee of inquiry had been set up by Frank R. Lautenberg, UJA president, to investigate “mismanagement.”

Some of the press reports, which claimed to have based their articles on a “secret report” by top UJA officials, also claimed that there were recriminations among the officials over both the committee of inquiry and the purported “charges of serious mismanagement in the UJA.”

JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED

Without referring directly to the Israeli press reports, a joint statement issued by Leonard R. Strelitz, UJA general chairman, and Lautenberg, affirmed that for more than three years the UJA “has retained the services of a financial consultant to study the internal operations of the organization.” The study, according to the statement, was initiated “to update management practices and is designed to improve the effectiveness and productivity of UJA in carrying out its annual national campaigns.”

On the basis of this study, the statement continued, “the consultant has submitted a series of reports to the officers of UJA which contain recommendations for changes and improvements in technical, personnel and financial operations. A number of recommended changes have already been implemented and are being reviewed and studied further.

“In the course of the review, some differences arose concerning methods of implementation. These procedural differences have now been resolved and the review is proceeding in an orderly fashion, conducted by a committee responsible to the Board of Directors of the UJA. The officers of UJA, together with the professional staff, are united in support of this procedure. While this review is taking place, we will proceed with full strength in the conduct of our 1978 fundraising campaign.”

REPORT WAS ‘TOTALLY INACCURATE’

In a statement issued earlier this month, Lautenberg said that a report in Haaretz Feb. 17, “purporting to be a factual report” of a UJA Board of Directors meeting Feb. 15 was “totally inaccurate.” The meeting, Lautenberg said, was called to deal with “a number of rumors and charges about the management” of UJA which had been circulating “for some time” in the U.S. and Israel.

Lautenberg asserted that during his term in office as UJA general chairman, just prior to Strelitz, he recommended “the retention of the services of a financial consultant to take a broad look at the organization’s management practices. This procedure was not instituted in response to any charges of mismanagement” but as an ongoing effort “to assure the highest level of financial responsibility.”

But, Lautenberg continued, before the information in the consultant’s findings could be brought before the Board of Directors, “selected information was extracted from them and criticisms developed about some UJA management practices,” thus leading to the “rumors and charges.”

In view of these circumstances, he said, he appointed a management review committee comprising Board of Directors members and UJA chairmen: Board members who were asked to serve with Lautenberg are, he said, Melvin Dubinsky, Max M. Fisher, Sylvia Hassenfeld, Jerold C. Hoffberger, Joseph Meyerhoff, Donald M. Robinson and Paul Zuckerman. National chairman are Joel S. Breslau and Stanley L. Sloane.

Lautenberg said the review committee’s appointment was approved by a vote of 17-3 by the full Board at its Feb. 15 meeting. The first article in the Israeli press appeared in Haaretz two days later. Since then other Israeli papers have carried similar reports.