Jewish community leaders are reacting with surprise and dismay to the abrupt firing by the national Anti-Defamation League of David Lehrer, its top regional representative in Los Angeles.
Lehrer himself said he was “shocked and stunned” by the dismissal, coming after 27 years of service as director of ADL’s Pacific Southwest region.
Bay Area ADL leader Jonathan Bernstein, executive director of the Pacific Northwest region of the ADL, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The firing of one of the most enduring and popular Jewish professionals in the Los Angeles area pointed to tensions between national headquarters in New York and independent-minded branches on the West Coast, frictions that have afflicted other national Jewish organizations, sources said.
The importance of what would ordinarily be an intra-organizational personnel action was shown by a lengthy article in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times, quoting angry reactions by Jewish leaders, as well as by Muslim spokesmen with whom Lehrer sought to establish working relationships.
In New York, ADL national spokeswoman Myrna Shinbaum released a statement declaring, “The Anti-Defamation League is always reviewing its operations, including that of its regional offices.
“Recognizing the importance and the needs of the Los Angeles community and ADL’s commitment to the community, we are undertaking steps to strengthen our leadership and development efforts. To this end ADL’s longtime director, David Lehrer, will be leaving the league.”
Lehrer, 53, said he was summoned to New York on Dec. 21 and told of the dismissal by national director Abraham Foxman.
According to Lehrer, Foxman said that he didn’t like the quality of the lay leadership in Los Angeles, and, as the statement indicated, the regional development and fund-raising efforts.
However, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles reported that under Lehrer’s leadership, the ADL’s annual budget had grown from $2 million to $6 million and that in 2001 fund-raising was up 30 percent over 2000.
Cecelia E. Katz, president of the Pacific Southwest region, did not rule out the possibility that an appeal would be made to reinstate Lehrer, if he so wished.
In a written statement, Katz noted that “David Lehrer is synonymous with Mr. ADL in Los Angeles and California. His leadership in building coalitions with legislators, the press, the plethora of ethnic, religious and racial groups is outstanding. He has dedicated his life to community service and he will be available as a reliable resource for this community, whenever called upon. He is very greatly respected and admired by the community and the staff and lay community at large.
“We deeply regret that David is leaving the directorship of the regional ADL. I know that he will be available and will be a source of information and assistance.
“The process of picking a replacement for the leadership position will be enhanced by a search committee of the Pacific Southwest regional office in conjunction with the national ADL. The internal politics of an organization are just that — involving the leaders and supporters of ADL. Our discussions nationally and locally are ongoing.
“Our programs are continuing on schedule and the staff is answering the needs of the community as they are requested and as usual.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the area’s top Jewish politician, called for a review of the national ADL decision.
“I am blown away,” Yaroslavsky told the Los Angeles Times. “David Lehrer’s outstanding reputation and his summary dismissal without warning do not compute. A lot of us are resentful because this decision was made by someone in New York without apparent consultation with the lay board of directors locally.”
L.A.-area Muslim leaders, with whom Lehrer helped to draw up a code of ethics to avoid mutual stereotyping, also expressed their regrets.
“Probably he is paying the price for the more balanced view he took toward Muslims,” Aslam Abdullah, vice president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told the Times.
During his tenure, Lehrer forged broad ties with politicians, the media, law enforcement and ethnic communities. He worked on programs to bring non-Jewish students of color to Israel, helped educate thousands of local teachers about bigotry and developed ties between Latinos and Jews.
He also expanded ADL’s reach by establishing satellite offices in Santa Barbara, San Fernando Valley, Palm Springs and Las Vegas.
Foxman’s firing of Lehrer plays into the widespread conviction by those in Southern California that the top professionals who run national Jewish organizations from New York are unwilling to grant meaningful decision-making latitude to their regional outpost in America’s second-largest Jewish community, even when dealing with purely local issues.
For instance, the same disaffection played a role when the Los Angeles regional chapter of the American Jewish Congress split from the national organization in March 1999 and transformed itself into the independent Progressive Jewish Alliance.
In general, West Coast chapters also tend to take a more liberal stance on national and international issues than their New York headquarters.
L.A. area leaders believe that frequently their political outlook more truly reflects the intent of the founders of national Jewish organization than the more conservative ideology imposed by those now running the show on the East Coast.