The dramatic decision to extend the terms of the chief rabbis and postpone the chief rabbinate sparked a storm Friday morning, but was made in private rooms earlier this week. Israel Hayom learned that last Sunday a meeting was held in which five people considered the most significant in the proceedings participated: Shas Chairman MK Aryeh Deri, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Dudu Amar, who is considered a close associate of Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Smotrich's advisor Omer Rachamim, who is in charge of all elections for the Chief Rabbinate on behalf of Religious Zionism, and Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Yehuda Avidan.
The five sat on Deri's porch discussing how to respond to a petition pending in the High Court of Justice against holding the elections. This is a petition demanding that elections for the Chief Rabbinate not be held at the same time as the municipal elections. According to the petitioners, which certainly has a basis, the linkage of rabbis running for the position of chief rabbi with public representatives running for the position of city rabbis is liable to open the door to corruption.
The Chief Rabbinate Building, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Religious Zionism is well aware of the problems and the fear of compromising the integrity of the elections – rabbis who will support mayoral candidates and they will vote for them in return. "This is an opening for bribery and unhealthy things," a party source told Israel Hayom. "We don't want to end up in a situation where the Supreme Court intervenes in our issue instead of us controlling the process."
It should be noted that this is not the only reason underlying their decision. A source in the Chief Rabbinate told Israel Hayom that "there is no other reason for this postponement other than political reasons." This is mainly the burning question of who will be the Sephardic Chief Rabbi – Rabbi Yehuda Deri, Rabbi of Be'er Sheva and brother of Aryeh Deri, or Rabbi David Yosef, a member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages and brother of the current Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.
Rabbinical Committee (Archive), photo: Spokesperson's Office of the Chief Rabbinate
In the end, the five decided together that the term of the current chief rabbis would be extended by legislation, as would the rabbinical elections. Political sources told Israel Hayom that they expect elections to be held towards the end of next winter.
Although the behind-the-scenes story is mostly on the Sephardic side, the extension of the elections falls into the hands of the people interested in appointing Rabbi Yaakov Shapira as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. There is currently a bill proposed by Moshe Saada to extend the age of running, which currently stands at 70, so that 72-year-old Rabbi Shapira can also run for the position, but this is a personal law since it prevents another person from being appointed to the position if he has already served in it, that is, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, whom Shas does not want to run for again.
At the same time, political sources believe that even at this time, Rabbi Shapira's chances are not very high, in light of opposition within the Religious Zionist Party to personal legislation. "At the moment, we still believe that Rabbi Micha Halevy has the highest chances, but everything is open," sources in the Ministry of Religious Affairs told Israel Hayom.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us
