Reversing his previous stance, the chairman of the Claims Conference, Julius Berman, has decided to speak out on the criticism being directed his way by communal leaders and the media. Commenting specifically on coverage by The Forward, Berman said, “I no longer have the luxury of sitting back and allowing such unvarnished lies to be published about me without responding.”

from The Jerusalem Post:

Claims Conference chief comes out swinging

In a letter sent to his board of directors, Claims Conference chairman Julius Berman complained of the “unvarnished lies” published about him in the media, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Berman also struck back at Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder for their calls for an independent investigation of the leadership of the Claims Conference over their role in investigating a 2001 tip-off of a massive fraud scheme by conference employees.

… In the 11-page document, which was obtained by the Post on Friday, Berman described his frustration with “the continuous repetition of the falsehoods and misleading statements about my actions [that] will be accepted as truths over time.”

Following is the letter from Julius Berman to the Board of the Claims Conference:

Letter from Julius Berman to the Board of the Claims Conference by Andrew Miles