AJC fires 3 employees at J'lem office

Despite downsizing of staff, American Jewish Committee executive director denies diminishing local operations.

By SAM SOKOL
AJC executive director David Harris 370 (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
AJC executive director David Harris 370
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The American Jewish Committee fired three employees at its Jerusalem office this week, The Jewish Daily Forward reported this week, “thrust[ing] the office, based in Jerusalem’s Beit Moses building, into a state of confusion.”
The Forward explained that the move comes on the heels of “a long history of tension between AJC’s Jerusalem office and the New York headquarters.”
The firings also come after “strained labor relations” between AJC employees and management, the New York newspaper reported.
According to the article, Jerusalem office director Ed Rettig may be fired as well, though a decision has yet to be made.
“While, as a matter of longstanding policy, we do not discuss past or present personnel matters with the media,” AJC executive director David Harris said in a statement to the press.
“The article in The Forward got lots of things wrong, both in fact and implication. Most important for us to stress is that AJC, as the global Jewish advocacy organization, remains, as always, profoundly committed to our relationship with Israel. Any implication that we are diminishing our presence is totally and completely off-base,” he continued.
“Every institution, as it reflects on its mission, goes through periodic review and assessment in order to better adapt to changing times and needs. And, at the end of the day, let’s be clear, we are talking about one-third of our Israel operation – the other two-thirds of our vibrant presence, Project Interchange, which has brought over 6,000 leading personalities to Israel from 70 countries, and International Interreligious Affairs, under the leadership of the widely respected Rabbi David Rosen, are unaffected.”