Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., May 25, 2009 Sivan 2, 5769 | | Israel Time: 00:13 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Claim: Israeli rep at reparations summit will leave survivors 'voiceless'
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haarez Correspondent
Tags: Claims Conference 

Prominent figures involved with restitution warn that heirs of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust will be "without representation" next month in Prague, at what could be the last international conference on Holocaust era assets.

These people, including former Knesset member Michael Kleiner, complain that the nomination of Reuven Merhav from the Claims Conference to represent Israel at the Prague meeting constitutes a "conflict of interest" and will mean heirs will remain "voiceless."

"As a representative of the Claims Conference, there has to be a conflict of interest in Merhav's nomination to represent Israel in Prague," said Martin Stern, who initiated the compensation process for holocaust era insurances in 1996. A representative of holocaust survivors from Holland, Eldad Kisch, voiced similar concerns.
Advertisement

Merhav told Haaretz his nomination is strictly professional and that he is committed to helping heirs reclaim property.

Kleiner - founder of the Generali Fund for restitution - bases his concerns on the fact that Merhav, a former senior official at the Foreign Ministry and Mossad, is also Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

The Claims Conference is an organization representing world Jewry in compensation talks with Germany, and the world's richest restitution body. "This organization is withholding inheritance money from heirs of people who had been murdered in the Holocaust, spending money on other Jewish causes instead," Kleiner told Haaretz.

"Because the state will be represented by a man who belongs to the Claims Conference, heirs will be made voiceless at what could be their last chance to demand restitution," said Kleiner, a long-time critic of the Claims Conference who chaired a Knesset committee on insurance.

Merhav rejects this assertion. "What belongs to heirs needs to go to heirs. The remaining money needs to go to people in need and to Jewish causes," he said. Merhav also said he is working to increase the representation at the conference of the International Organization for the Return of Jewish Property (ILAR).

Uriel Palti, the ministry's coordinator for the Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference said the ministry's legal department has concluded Merhav's nomination does not constitute a conflict of interests. Merhav's position with the Claims Conference is voluntary and he does not receive a salary. His role in Prague is also voluntary.

The Prague Conference will include some 50 countries and will take place on June 26, and will assess the progress made since the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets in recovering looted art and objects of cultural, historical and religious value.

Last month, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel complained to the Foreign Ministry that Merhav's nomination constituted a conflict of interests and demanded Merhav ? who was appointed by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni - be replaced.

"The Claims Conference has been rebuked for its handling of money intended for Holocaust survivors and it seems that its positions on restitution of Jewish property do not necessarily match Israel's approach," said the letter of complaint, noting that the Claims Conference is currently being reviewed by a parliamentary committee of inquiry.

Colette Avital, a former ambassador and Knesset member who headed a committee of inquiry on restitution, said Merhav's appointment "is not necessarily a case of conflict of interest." She added, however, that "it could be problematic," depending on what Merhav says in Prague.

"If he says all property needs to be returned to the claims conference and not to heirs, then there's a conflict of interest," said Avital
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Banning Nakba
Ministerial panel approves bill which could make it illegal to mourn Independence Day.
Defying Obama
Netanyahu pledges not to form settlements, but says building in existing towns is fair.
 Haaretz Hot Topics
The Pope in the Holy Land
Durban II conference
Iran: Nuclear and regional ambitions
Israel vs. Hamas
Air strike in Sudan


More Headlines
00:00 Hezbollah could strike Israel to divert Hariri probe
00:29 U.S. Congressmen doubt Netanyahu can advance peace process
00:05 North Korea: We've conducted second nuclear test
00:30 Israel moves closer to banning mourning of its independence
00:30 Minister Yishai: Allowing Reform conversions will prompt influx of Palestinians
00:21 Labor rebels' bill would pay settlers who leave West Bank
00:54 Canada minister: Leftist-Islamist anti-Semitism more dangerous
00:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
00:00 Russia FM: Hamas taking more realistic path since Gaza war
00:41 Netanyahu lifts objection to anti-Israel Egyptian minister as head of UNESCO
00:04 IDF won't take blame for soldier's mental illenss
00:47 Technion rebukes student who refused to stand for Israeli anthem
00:24 Ghanian dancers treated as slave laborers still awaiting visas
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
hotel Jerusalem
David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Camp Kimama Israel 2009
The best place for your children this summer
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved