Ralph Friedländer is the new President of the SIG

The 119th SIG Assembly of Delegates on 2 June 2024 in Bern focused in particular on the election of a new President. The 94 delegates present at the assembly agreed to the swap in the presidency proposed by the Board of Directors. Ralph Friedländer was elected President of the association by acclamation for the next four years. The former Vice-President replaces Ralph Lewin, who had held the post since October 2020 and is now assuming the position of Vice-President as a re-elected member of the Board.

An expert on international cooperation at the head of the Federation

In Ralph Friedländer, the SIG has gained an experienced President with strong negotiation and leadership skills. Friedländer, 65, served for many years as an executive with a diplomatic passport and as a negotiation specialist at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), and previously at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). From January 2020 to May 2024, he was Head of the Advisory Commission for International Cooperation, a non-parliamentary commission of the Swiss Federal Council that offers analysis and recommendations in the area of international cooperation. Friedländer was also a member of the SIG Central Committee and president of the Jewish Community Bern for six years.

After his election, Ralph Friedländer thanked the delegates for their trust. In his speech, he announced that the priority would continue to be implementation of the SIG strategy: strengthening exchange between the Jewish communities and SIG dialogue both internally and externally, expanding interreligious dialogue, and introducing a national anti-Semitism strategy.

Continuity in the vice-presidency and the Board of Directors

Ralph Lewin, President of the SIG since 2020, was subsequently elected to the Board of Directors and will now, as proposed, assume the role of Vice-President with additional responsibility for the finance portfolio. Existing Board of Directors members Nadja Gut (education and prevention), Liliane Isaak-Dreyfus (social affairs), Daniel Jakobovits (financial investments), and Iris Levy (culture), were also re-elected. Moshe Fein, a member of the Agudas Achim community in Zurich, was elected as a new member of the Board of Directors. Fein has worked in the hospitality industry and as a property manager for many years. He takes over the religious affairs portfolio from Rolf Halonbrenner, who was only serving in the role for a transitional period of one year.

An increase in membership fees and a resolution concerning Israel

Other items on the agenda represented normal statutory business. An increase in membership fees was also discussed. The Board of Directors had proposed an increase to advance the Federation’s financial recovery and to adjust the contributions slightly for inflation, after they had remained unchanged for years. The delegates ultimately agreed to the proposal and decided to increase the fees of the member communities accordingly.

The Assembly of Delegates was also preoccupied by the difficult and turbulent situation in Israel following 7 October 2023 and the ongoing Gaza conflict. The delegates passed a resolution on the topic with a large majority. The resolution condemns the terrorist act carried out by Hamas in the strongest terms as well as the ensuing trivialisation of the act. It also calls for Parliament and the Federal Council to rapidly implement the ban on Hamas and to do more to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza. The delegates further stressed their solidarity with the Israeli people and reaffirmed that Israel’s right to exist is non-negotiable. At the same time, they expressed regret at the great suffering of the civilian population resulting from this war unleashed by Hamas. Peace and security must be sought for the Israeli population, for the Palestinians and for the entire region. They also expect the federal government and cantons to take effective measures to counter rising anti-Semitism, including at higher education institutions.

New members of the SIG family from Geneva and the canton of Valais

Finally, the SIG has welcomed new member communities to its ranks. Two applications for accession were approved with the required two-thirds majority. The new members are: the Communauté Israélite Orthodoxe de Genève ‘Machsikei Hadass’ CIOG and the Communauté Beit Yossef de Crans-Montana et du Canton du Valais CBYCM. The Machsikei Hadass is a small Orthodox community in Geneva which evolved from a predecessor community, Agudath Achim, founded in 1918 by Hungarian Jews. CBYCM began initial operations in 2022 and was established as an association in March 2024. These are the first new additions of member communities to the SIG since 1945.