Singer grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Austrian refugees. He taught political science in New York, and at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Singer has been an activist and advocate on behalf of the victims of the Holocaust. As chairman of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, he managed efforts to compensate Holocaust survivors monetarily. He also negotiated with Germany and Austria about annuities and compensation for survivors. In 1996, the Reuters news agency reported that at a meeting of the WJC congress in Buenos Aires, Singer said "more than three million Jews died in Poland and the Polish people are not going to be the heirs of the Polish Jews. We are never going to allow this.... They're gonna hear from us until Poland freezes over again. If Poland does not satisfy Jewish claims it will be publicly attacked and humiliated." In October 2001, he was appointed chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress. In 2002, he was elected president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, the "Claims Conference". In June 2002, he was appointed chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations. Israel Singer is a co-founder of Yahad-In Unum, an organization founded by priest Patrick Desbois, and dedicated to research on the "Holocaust by bullets". Singer also acted as vice-chairman of the Yad Vashem Council.
Controversies
Poland
In 1996, the Reuters news agency reported that at a meeting of the WJC congress in Buenos Aires, Singer said "more than three million Jews died in Poland and the Polish people are not going to be the heirs of the Polish Jews. We are never going to allow this.... They're gonna hear from us until Poland freezes over again. If Poland does not satisfy Jewish claims it will be publicly attacked and humiliated."
WJC scandal and resignation
On 14 March 2007 Singer was forced to resign from most official functions by WJC president Edgar M. Bronfman as a result of alleged misappropriation of financial resources. On 17 August 2007, lawsuits were filed by both Bronfman and the WJC in the Supreme Court of New York County; Bronfman's suit claimed "that Singer did not pay back more than $500,000 in personal loans stemming from a 2004 investigation by the New York State Attorney General into the WJC's finances." As a result of that investigation, Singer was required to pay back more than $300,000 to the organization. The WJC suit claimed that Singer "never returned WJC property such as computers, televisions, cellular phones and BlackBerries, that amount to $19,500."
