Four months after his election, the chairman of CCOJB, the umbrella representative group of Jewish organizations in Belgium, Maurice Sosnowoski, has submitted his resignation at a General Assembly last week.
But the organization’s Executive Board asked him to reconsider his decision.
"The Board gave its support to the President although asked him to reconsider his decision. According to the statues, the first vice president, Henri Benkoski, is now directing the steering committee reviewing proposals, solutions and appropriate action to the current situation. Resignation is only accepted after being approved,”, the CCOJB said in a statement.
Maurice Sosnowski, elected president last March, explained his decision by stating that he does not accept that members of the Board hold leading positions within political parties, as is the case for Joel Rubinfeld, former chairman of CCOJB, who in April became vice president of the new Popular Party (PP) led by Mischael Modrikamen.
Rubinfeld ran in last Sunday’s early parliamentary elections in Belgium.
The statutes of the organization foresee that a former president of CCOJB remains a board member for one year.
"The CCOJB must remain politically neutral and should not be linked to any kind of conflict of interest," argued Maurice Sosnowski, who made it clear at the General Assembly, which is composed of representatives of around 40 Jewish organizations and institutions.
"I will not come back on my decision as long as Joel Rubinfeld remains on the Board,” he told EJP. "I would like to highlight the fact that this decision is not personal but I do want to have a minimum of uprightness" he adds.
But his predecessor did not hear it that way. "There can not be any special treatment, it is a matter of principle. There has always been in the general Assembly and Executive Board of CCOJB a history of people being active in various political parties and this has never been an issue in the past, " he told EJP.
"I will not accept that some led by the Liberals or the Socialists try to settle their accounts with the Popular Party within the CCOJB. This is not the place to do it," he added.
In the meantime, it is up to the steering committee to find a solution to this crisis. Otherwise, a new election for a president should be organized.
"CCOJB primary concerns remain the fight against anti-Semitism, misinformation, the delegitimization of the State of Israel and the import of the Middle East conflict reflected in our country," the organization stressed.