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Roger Cukierman has been elected the head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, or CRIF.

It is the second time Cukierman, 76, has been elected to head the representative body of French Jewry. He also served as president of CRIF from 2001 to 2007. He succeeds Richard Prasquier, who has served for the last six years as president of the organization.

Cukierman won on Sunday in the second round of voting by the General Assembly of the umbrella organization with 61 percent of the vote. Arie Bensemhoun, president of the Jewish community of Toulouse, took 39 percent of the vote.

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Following his election, Cukierman said he would work “under the sign of a relentless, constant and determined fight against anti-Semitism and the respect of memory,” according to The Parisian.

“I want a CRIF stronger, strictly independent and open to the civil society as a whole,” he also said.

Cukierman, who is of Polish extraction, holds a doctorate in economics and is currently a vice president of the World Jewish Congress. He has served in a number of other community posts.

Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, congratulated Cukierman in a statement issued after his reelection.

“Mr. Cukierman represents a wealth of knowledge and experience which will be necessary for French Jewry in the years ahead,” Kantor said. “He has represented French Jewry in the past and we look forward to working closely with him as we face many challenges ahead.”

CRIF is the umbrella organization for 72 Jewish groups in France. There are about half a million Jews living in France, according to The Parisian.

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