France's Grand Rabbi Resigns in Plagiarism Scandal

Also lied about academic record

France's Grand Rabbi -- the country's leading Jewish religious figure -- resigned Thursday after admitting to plagiarism and to lying about his academic record on his CV.

Gilles Bernheim had been under pressure to step down after admitting to the unattributed copying and acknowledging that a claim on his CV that he was awarded a prestigious philosophy academic status was not true.

The resignation came as dozens of members of the Central Israeli Consistory, the top Jewish religious authority in France, met in Paris to discuss the growing scandal in an emergency session.