Attorney and former Congress candidate Liz Berney spoke at North Shore Towers on Monday, March 2, addressing issues related to the Middle East and the Bernie Madoff case.
Berney, a resident of Great Neck, ran against current Congressmember Gary Ackerman in 2008. Although she began as a tax attorney, she now specializes in consumer safety and fraud cases.
During her career, Berney has represented Holocaust victims against Swiss and German banks and was part of the Enron, Parmalat, Ford Explorer rollover/Firestone tire and Mattel lead paint/choking hazard cases.
Two of the reasons that Berney said were behind her decision to run for Congress were concerns for Israel and funding that the United States was given to the Palestinian Authority. She noted that, about a week prior to her North Shore Towers lecture, the announcement was made that the U.S. would give $900 million to “rebuild” Gaza, which she described as a “huge problem.”
“I’m very opposed to this,” Berney said. “My view on this is there should not be a single dime that goes to Gaza until every single rocket is removed from there.”
Also, Berney noted that the funds would be part of a peaceful two-state solution. She said that would end up displacing another 400,000 Jews from the west bank.
“The human suffering…would be beyond belief,” she said.
Berney also spoke about recent appointments made by President Barack Obama’s administration that she disagreed with. She described Chaz Freeman, who has been appointed to the National Intelligence Council, as “really outrageous.” She said that he has made statements that are anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian and excused the Tiananmen Square massacre.
“It’s something that people really have to get involved in because this guy is one of the worst possible appointments,” she said.
Another appointment that Berney criticized was that of Samantha Power to a top foreign policy position. She said that Power’s views are that aid should be cut off to Israel and money should instead be given to the Palestinians.
Berney said concerns have also been raised about Jews who have suffered personal and property losses. She questioned why there has been talk about giving money to rebuild Gaza but not to aid the individuals in Israeli cities who have been suffering.
As residents began to have a dialogue with Berney, someone asked her if she thought a two-state solution would happen.
“I think a lot of Israelis have lost hope about the prospective for a two-state solution. There’s really no peace partner to speak of,” she said. “It’s really unclear as to what’s going to happen.”
While speaking at North Shore Towers, Berney also touched on the Madoff case. She said that a law passed in 1995 made it more difficult to bring security fraud suits. This is because, she said, the discovery right has been eliminated in most cases.
As the discussion focused on Madoff, Berney talked about how the scheme’s victims might be able to recover some of the funds they have lost. One such source could be from “feeder funds.”
Berney explained that a lot of the money Madoff got a hold of was through feeder funds, where many times investors gave money that they did not know was being given to him. She said that there are also suits that have been filed against some of these feeder funds.
In addition, Berney said that there is a trustee who is trying to track down where the money is.
