The Minister of Religions, Matan Kahana, approved the regulations for the election of local rabbis, including restricting the tenure of city rabbis, changing the process of declaring a rabbi unfit for office, and changing the representatives in the electorate.
At the center of the regulations now approved - limiting the term of office of a mayor to only ten years, the retirement of older rabbis - and paving the way for the appointment of new city rabbis to prepare for next year's chief rabbinate elections.
At the heart of the new regulations is the overriding goal of the Minister of Religions, which he has been declaring since taking office, to appoint as many city rabbis as possible in order to prepare for the Chief Rabbinate elections in 2023, and to appoint a religious rabbi to the post.
There are currently several dozen city rabbis missing all over the country, and time is running out.
So far, the Minister of Religions has not been able to appoint rabbis of many cities, despite his statement, with the exception of the rabbi of the city of Caesarea this week.
According to the new regulations, the Electoral Assembly will include all members of the local authority council, the director general and public representatives, half of whom will be appointed by the Minister of Religions. Half of the public representatives will be rabbis from the local authority and half According to Minister Kahana, the process of electing a mayor will be simple and quick, and the Minister of Religions will initiate an election process in a local authority in which there is no rabbi, in cooperation with the local authority.
Another revolution approved today (Monday) deals with the length of a mayor's term.
Until now, the tenure of city rabbis elected before 1974 has not been limited at all.
In the new regulations those who have passed the age of 80 will end their tenure within a year, and those who are not 80 will still end their tenure at that age.
Under the new regulations the tenure of a mayor will henceforth be a term of office.
The term of office of a mayor who is elected will be ten years, similar to the term of the Chief Rabbis of Israel, but the city council may extend his term for another ten years at a time until the age of 70.
Matan Kahana, Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman - Noam Moskowitz
In addition, it was determined that a committee would be established whose role would be to examine the suitability of each candidate for a multi-city position.
No candidacy will be approved for someone who has been indicted for a serious criminal offense and a final verdict has not yet been given in his case, or a complaint or disciplinary action has been filed against him for an offense that, due to its seriousness, does not deserve him to serve as mayor.
Also, in the past, a declaration of incapacity of a mayor due to a medical condition was given by the Chief Rabbinate Council and the Minister of Religious Affairs.
According to the new regulations, a medical committee will determine the incompetence of a rabbi to continue in office.
"The current situation according to which there are no rabbis in dozens of Israeli cities is not normal," said Minister of Religious Affairs Kahana.
"For one reason or another, rabbis have not been appointed in many cities in recent years and this has profoundly damaged the religious services of these cities. With the help of the name, the procedure for appointing rabbis in cities where there is no rabbi serves. "
Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Shimon (Moni) Matuk: "The new regulations will finally allow the appointment of many missing city rabbis over many years while emphasizing local needs and better matching the character of the rabbi to the relevant community.
The ministry continues in accordance with the minister's directive to promote and strengthen religious services in Israel. "
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