NEW YORK (JTA) — Yaron Neudorfer, the chief financial officer of the Jewish Agency for Israel, has resigned.
The resignation comes amid a time of upheaval at the Jewish Agency, including the planned end of automatic funding to the agency by the Jewish Federations of North America. Until now, the Jewish Agency automatically had received 75 percent of the Jewish Federations’ overseas budget.
Also over the last two or three years, the Jewish Agency has reorganized its departments, undergone staff cuts and reshuffled its priorities away from immigration to Israel, which it still handles, and toward Zionist education in the Diaspora.
A spokesman for the Jewish Agency, Joshua Berkman, told JTA that Natan Sharansky, the agency’s chairman, asked Neudorfer to stay on but that Neudorfer had declined. He will stay for another month while Alan Hoffman, the agency’s director general, appoints an interim CFO and a search is launched for Neudorfer’s successor.
"After serving 6 1/2 years as CFO, Yaron feels that he is ready to seek new challenges," the Jewish Agency leadership said in a statement. "Throughout this time, he was a partner to all major decisions and changes that the organization undertook, and played a crucial role. During this period the Agency suffered declining income while facing fluctuating exchange rates and global economic instability. The Finance Department, under Yaron’s leadership, put in place a reporting system used in the private sector with maximum transparency. During his tenure, he improved the financial positions and shrunk the accumulated deficit to an unprecedented level."
Neudorfer could not be reached for comment.
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