Yonathan Arfi, 42, was elected president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France in the first round, the institution announced. He is the first president of Crif to be in his forties and already a member of its executive board.
The man is discreet and little known, but not for long. At 42, Yonathan Arfi becomes the youngest president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France.
He grew up in a Sephardic Jewish family and spent his adolescence in the Yvelines in the Paris suburbs. Later, Yonathan Arfi became president of the Union of Jewish Students of France then member of the executive board of Crif in 2007 and finally vice-president of the institution since 2014.
A graduate of HEC, this father of three children is a business leader in consulting and real estate.
Whoever succeeds Francis Kalifat at the head of the Crif for eight years defines himself ” like a fighting Jew » . Its vision is that of a Judaism committed to the defense of Jews and Israel, but also involved in French society.
Yonathan Arfi says he has the feeling of taking over the presidency of Crif in a politically tormented moment. According to him, the rise of extremes represents an unprecedented threat for the Jews of France.
A political showcase for the Jewish population of Europe, the Crif brings together 67 associations.