Yonathan Arfi (born 14 April 1980) is a French CEO and activist. A member of the

Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF) () is an umbrella organization of other groups representing the interests of History of the Jews in France, French Jews. Overview It is the official France, French affiliate of th ...

(CRIF, "Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions") since 2002, he was elected as vice-president on 4 February 2014, and ran for president in 2022. On 26 June 2022, he succeeded Francis Kalifat as president of the CRIF.

Biography

Yonathan Arfi was born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

to a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

n and Moroccan descent.Yonathan Arfi élu nouveau président du Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France. ouest-france.fr.
/ref>

Early life

Arfi spent his childhood in the Yvelines. He was a member of the Éclaireuses et éclaireurs israélites de France ("Jewish Guides and Scouts of France"), and obtained his degree at

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

Fight against antisemitism in France

From 2003 to 2005, Yonathan Arfi was president of the Union des étudiants juifs de France (UEJF, "Union of French Jewish Students"). He was a member of the CRIF's executive office in 2007, then vice president from 2014 to 2022. As the leader of the association, he began a protest against Dieudonné. As the vice-president of the CRIF, he took a public stand against

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

, condemning

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most pres ...

. He protested against statements made by

Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French History of far-right movements in France, far-right politician, essayist, writer and political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show ...

. Yonathan Arfi participated in the

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...

(AIU, "Universal Israelite Alliance") as a member of the board of directors. He was also a member of the Oeuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE, "Children's Aid Society").Responsibility and Hope for a World in Conflict. Featured Panelists. Yonathan Arfi is. xavier.edu.
/ref> Shortly after his election as president of the CRIF and following a controversy about an Avignon fresco of

Jacques Attali Jacques José Mardoché Attali (; born 1 November 1943) is a French economic and social theorist, writer, political adviser and senior civil servant. A very prolific writer, Attali published 86 books in 54 years, between 1969 and 2023. Atta ...

, he denounced the worrying rise of

antisemitism in France Antisemitism in France is the expression through words or actions of an ideology of hatred of Jews on French soil. Jews were present in Roman Gaul, but information is limited before the fourth century. As the Christianity in the 4th century#Ro ...

and spoke on the difficulty of being Jewish in current French society during an interview with

France Inter France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...

President of the Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France

On 26 June 2022, Yonathan Arfi was elected president of the

(CRIF, "Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions") and served a 3-year term.

Professional life

Yonathan Arfi directs a group of companies active in business consulting.

Family

He is the younger nephew of French swimmer and

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

Alfred Nakache. He has four children.

Publications

* Yonathan Arfi, Paul Bernard,

Jean-Yves Camus Jean-Yves Camus (born 1958) is a French political scientist who specializes in nationalist movements in Europe. Life and career Born in 1958 to a Catholic and Gaullist family, Camus is an observant Jew and describes himself as part of "the an ...

, Amar Dib,

Alain Finkielkraut Alain Luc Finkielkraut (; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French essayist, radio producer, and public intellectual. Since 1986, he has been the host of ''Répliques'', a talk show broadcast weekly on France Culture. He was elected a Fellow of the Ac ...

, Natacha Polony, Yazid Sabeg,

Dominique Schnapper Dominique Schnapper (born 9 November 1934) was a member of the Constitutional Council of France from 2001 to 2010. She is also a scholar and professor of sociology. Her sociological studies have been largely historical and have ranged from inq ...

, Dominique Sopo, Pierre-André Taguieff, Michel Wieviorka, ''Les Enfants de la République. Y a-t-il un bon usage des communautés ?'', Union des étudiants juifs de France/ Éditions de La Martinière, 2004

Biography

Early life

Fight against antisemitism in France

President of the Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France

Professional life

Family

Publications

References

See also

Bibliography

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