BERLIN (JTA) — The re-elected head of the European Jewish Congress called an upcoming anti-racism conference a "challenge for world Jewry."
Moshe Kantor called on European governments to prevent the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, dubbed Durban II, from "descending into an anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate-fest," as the conference in South Africa did in 2001.
The Durban Review Conference’s draft document singles out Israel for condemnation.
Kantor, a Russian-born businessman and philanthropist, was re-elected Wednesday to a second four-year term by a vote of 55 to 28 at an EJC General Assembly meeting in Brussels. He survived a challenge from Roger Cukierman, the former head of CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewry.
As the EJC president, Kantor has focused particular attention on the verbal threats against Israel coming from Iran. He said his re-election should encourage members to "work as a team and not as individuals or separate communities."
His secular umbrella organization represents some 2.5 million Jews in 42 communities.
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