Zipora House in Ashkelon
Photo: Gadil Kabalo
150 years in jail. Madoff
Photo: AFP
Immigrants' kids in south suffer from Madoff scandal
Former NASDAQ chair's billion dollar embezzlement affects Wiesel Foundation's finances, forcing one of area's biggest supporters to cutback on aid given to several children's learning centers
The repercussions of the Madoff scandal hit close to home: The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity says that due to the financial damage it suffered as a result of former NASDAQ Chair Bernard Madoff's billion dollar embezzlement, it will be cutting some of its donations to projects in the southern Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Kiryat Malachi.
A US federal court convicted 71-year-old Madoff of fraud of "staggering proportions," sentencing him Sunday to life imprisonment and a maximum of 150 years – a term comparable only to those given in the past to terrorists, traitors and the most violent criminals.
Betrayal
Yael Branovsky
Israeli social groups fear repercussions of mass embezzlement which stripped US Jewish charities of millions of dollars may spell up to 30% drop in donations made to local organizations
"Unfortunately, when a swindler takes money he doesn’t think of anyone but himself, and surely not of the little children in Israel who need every penny," Shlomo Balai, head of the Ethiopian community in Ashkelon, told Ynet on Monday night.
Many of the children of Balai's community rely on Ashkelon's Zipora House's services – a center dedicated to reducing educational gaps and dropout rates among the children of immigrants.
The center, which also has a Kiryat Malachi branch, is considered an actual learning center, which provides the children with the additional help the education system sometimes cannot provide: The center provides Hebrew lessons, extracurricular assistance in many of the subjects learned in schools, and a preparation course for matriculation exams.
Balai was less than impressed with Madoff's sentence: "He's an old man. What good does it do us? Every child here suffered from his actions. Will they suffer any less?"
Elie and Marion Wiesel in Ashkelon's Zipora House (Photo: Haim Horenstein)
The Zipora House in Kiryat Malachi has a budget of NIS 2 million a year (roughly $500,000) – half of which is funded by the Wiesel Foundation.
"We were very relieved when the foundation offered to help us, and they assured us that despite the cutback they will continue aiding us," said the center's director Lea Shelach.
The Wiesel Foundation's donations to projects in Ashkelon have so far reached $20 million, but this year the foundation announced it would be cutting back on aid funds.
Nevertheless, and despite the global financial crisis, said an Ashkelon Municipality statement, "the Wiesel Foundation said it would continue to aid Ashkelon as it has all of these years, but there will be a cutback in 2009."
The City's statement added that it would seek other avenues in order to keep raising aid funds.
Shmulik Hadad contributed to this report
