NEW YORK — Top US Jewish leader Malcolm Hoenlein has announced he is stepping down after more than three decades at the helm of the umbrella representative group of the American Jewish community.
Hoenlein, once described as ‘’the most influential private citizen inAmerican foreign policy”, is Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since 1986. The conference reunites more than 50 Jewish organizations from across the ideological spectrum.
The current conference chairman, Stephen Greenberg, said Hoenlein, 73, was timing his resignation to coincide with the search for a new chairman. “Malcolm will continue to serve the Conference as he has so effectively for more than three decades, as we seek an executive to assume responsibility for the Conference’s ongoing operations and activities,” said Greenberg. “Malcolm will then focus on external relations as well as plans to structure the Conference for the years ahead.”
Hoenlein said the process could take a year, and that he would remain on board beyond to make his expertise available. “It was the responsible thing to do, I wanted it to be orderly, however long it takes, to put it in stages, it won’t be a one-shot deal,” he said. “It seems apparently simple, it is not at all.”
Hoenlein said there would be other structural changes. “We have other moves in mind that will help the conference move into the 21st century — I should say the 22nd, maybe even the 23rd,” he said.