Moshe Kantor became the first president from Eastern Europe of the European Jewish Congress. Kantor, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress and a billionaire businessman, defeated incumbent Pierre Besnainou, also president of the United Social Funds of France and a millionaire businessman, by a vote of 55-30 on Tuesday in Brussels. There were two abstentions. The hotly contested race had been too close to call. Kantor had campaigned on making Jewish education a higher priority, while Besnainou touted his work lobbying for Israel and decrying anti-Semitism. The EJC has 41 member states, and votes in the election were weighted according to population. The organization was founded in 1980 as an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress. “I am a great believer in European Jewry,” Kantor said Tuesday before the vote. “I will never ever compromise in Brussels with the security of European Jews and the security of our Jewish state.”
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