Israel-Threat to withdraw assets from Swiss banks

(5 Jan 1997) T/I 10:50:02 Jewish organisations are considering whether to ask Jews to withdraw their assets from Swiss bank accounts to support efforts to establish a compensation fund for Holocaust survivors. Former Swiss president Jean-Pascal Delamuraz earlier described as "blackmail" a request for the creation of a compensation fund from deposits believed to have been left in Swiss bank accounts by Holocaust victims. SHOWS: JERUSALEM, 5/1 WS presser; Abraham Burg, the President of The Jewish Agency, SOT: "We do not negotiate the money we stand for a principle...."; SOT Dr Israel Zinger, Chairman of the World Jewish Organisation for Restitution: "The President of the World Jewish Congress Mr. Brautmann finds the words of the President of Switzerland to be bordering anti-semitic. And finds the phraseology of the efforts we have made ... to be a complete rejection of what we have been involved with for over a year and half of negotiations. We are dealing with a moral problem, we have tried to behave in a moral way and a polite way, but we have been responded to in an impolite and ugly manner. We are considering disinvestment over the next few weeks... disinvestment means indpendent pension funds not Jewish ones: state, city and corporate pension funds that are invested in Swiss banks and institutions should be invested there (or not) ...whether we suggest and advise them to cease investing in these places will be based upon our discussuions at the world Jewish restitution organisation. C/A press; SOT continues: we will not picket, but whether we will continue to discourage people to publicly demonstrate against the way in which we have been treated is something that will be decided....; camera; SOT continues: we do not take this matter lightly. We cannot take the words of a man who speaks for a nation, a democratic country, a very serious country, lightly either. Those words must either be rejected by Switzerland and it's bankers clearly and very, very decisivley in a short time or our decision that we will reach in the next few weeks..."; DUR: 2.37 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...