In a major breakthrough, the attorneys for the plaintiffs Hungarian Holocaust survivors together with senior Justice Department attorneys - read the following statement to Judge Patricia Seitz in federal court in Miami on Monday, December 20:

"The government and plaintiffs' counsel, after consultation with class members and Jewish organizations, have reached an agreement in principle to settle this litigation. There are still significant issues to be worked out, but we are confident that we can indeed work them out."

Judge Seitz set a deadline of February 18 for the details to be worked out, and a final settlement proposal to be forwarded to the court for approval. All the elements of the settlement will be publicly disclosed at that time, and there will be ample opportunity for comment.

Numerous news articles have appeared about this, filled with speculation about the amount and terms of the settlement. We want to make it clear: nearly all of these articles are just speculation. Key terms are still being discussed by the parties. It is also important to understand that any settlement of litigation necessarily involves compromise from the original positions of the parties. That will be true in this case as well.