Bowing to pressure from some members of the community, the chairman of the umbrella organization of Belgian Jewry has resigned.
David Susskind, 71, was re-elected chairman of the Coordination Committee of Belgian Jewish Organizations in May.
But some of the affiliated organizations criticized Susskind when he also became chairman of the CCLJ, a left-oriented Jewish lay organization that he founded.
The CCLJ was very active in the 1970s in fighting for the rights of Soviet Jewry, and later in advocating Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.
Those who asked for Susskind’s resignation said this double chairmanship was “incompatible.”
“This could have been a source of confusion because as head of the [coordination committee] you are the fruit of a consensus, and as head of the CCLJ you clearly have a leftist image,” a Jewish official said in an interview.
While resigning from the coordination committee, Susskind decided to stay on as chairman of the CCLJ.
Susskind was first elected chairman of the coordination committee in 1971, when the organization was created.
Earlier this year, when two candidates for the top post failed to get the required two-thirds majority of the board’s vote, Susskind agreed to be a candidate again and was reelected, getting 86 percent of the votes.
Elections for a new chairman will take place next month.
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