Rubinfeld, 39, won 25 of the 38 votes of delegates at a general assembly, securing for the first time in five successive rounds the two-third majority needed to be elected according to the organisation’s statues.

He defeated 63-year-old Norbert Cigé, a former principal of the Ganenou Jewish school.

Considered as more “militant” than Cigé, Rubinfeld has campaigned for a rupture with the policy of outgoing CCOJB president, lawyer Philippe Markiewicz.

Complaining that he has been “demonized” by his opponents and falsely branded as an “extremist,” Rubinfeld told EJP that his objective is now “to go beyond the left-right divide.”

In a press release issued after his election, Rubinfeld said he wants to put his mandate under the sign of "tolerance, respect, work and gathering."

"He intends to represent CCOJB with courage and dignity. He intends particularly to favour the conditions of a fructuous dialogue both within the community and with other communities in the  country," the press release said.  

"He will be at the service of all those who work against exclusion and hatred, at the service of all those who want the Jewish community to be, as it has always been, one of Nation's living forces."  

A former secretary general of the Belgian-Israeli friendship association, Rubinfeld founded in 2003 a think tank which debates topics such as democratization, globalization and the Middle East.

CCOJB, which was founded in 1970, represents 39 Jewish associations, mainly in Brussels, a city where 15,000 Jews live.
The 20,000 Jews in Antwerp have their own local umbrella group, the Forum of Jewish organisations.