Francis Kalifat


Francis Kalifat is a French businessman and philanthropist. He is the president-elect of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France, the umbrella organization for Jewish organisations in France.

Early life

Francis Kalifat was born in 1952 to a Jewish family in Oran, French Algeria. He moved to Paris in 1962, at the end of the Algerian War. He grew up in Trappes, followed by Versailles.
Kalifat was educated at the Lycée Hoche. He graduated from University of Paris-Sud.

Career

Kalifat started his own business, a shoe company, at the age of 22. He still runs the company.

Other activities

Kalifat volunteered for the Betar as a teenager.
Kalifat joined the CRIF in 1984. He was elected as its treasurer in 2002, and as its vice president in 2013. Kalifat was elected as the president of the CRIF in May 2016. During his tenure, he wants to ban Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions in France.