Alliance Formed In Bid To Lead Jewish Congress
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Two city scions who were potential rivals in a bid to lead the World Jewish Congress announced yesterday that they have joined forces and will run on the same ticket.
Philanthropist and art collector, Ronald Lauder, the son of cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder, will seek the presidency, while developer and heir to the Seagram’s liquor fortune, Matthew Bronfman, will seek the chairmanship of the governing board, they said. Some Jewish community leaders yesterday said they were surprised by the Lauder-Bronfman alliance, and had expected Mr. Bronfman to support Mr. Kaplan’s bid, or even make a run for the presidency — the organization’s top job.
Mr. Lauder vowed that he and Mr. Bronfman would “continue reform of the organization.”
The Congress has helped secure billions of dollars in restitution for Holocaust survivors, but recently has been at the center of high-profile infighting and has faced accusations of fiscal mismanagement.
Also seeking the presidency in the June 10 election is a South African businessman, Mendel Kaplan, and an Israeli writer and activist, Einat Wilf. Mr. Bronfman’s father, Edgar Bronfman, resigned earlier this month as the organization’s president after more than a quarter century on the job.
