Israeli politicians on Sunday criticized the coalition’s decision to revisit a controversial bill aimed at strengthening control over Israel’s rabbinic system by the coalition’s Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties.
The bill in question would change the composition of the committees that select rabbis at the municipal and district levels in Israel, effectively giving the Sephardic chief rabbi, usually a Shas-affiliated one, and the chief rabbi, including the Shas-run Ministry of Religion, the power to select these rabbis instead of local authorities. Introduced by Religious Zionist Party member Simcha Rothman and Shas-affiliated member Erez Marul, the bill is widely seen as an attempt to appoint rabbis from both parties to the rabbinate, a position that offers influence, status, and relatively high salaries. The bill would also give them greater influence over religious and state issues in cities and districts, including secular cities.
The bill was first proposed in June 2023 and debated in the Knesset Constitutional Committee from July to September. It was widely criticized at the time, with some opposition Knesset members linking it to the government’s controversial judicial reforms in that it wanted to strengthen government powers over the rabbinical institution, which has statutory jurisdiction over issues such as marital status, kashrut and burials.
The bill was shelved after the October 7 Hamas massacre and the ensuing war, only to resurface in March. Both MPs, Benny Gantz, chairman of the National Unity Party, and Gideon Sa’ar, chairman of the United Right, who were part of the ruling coalition at the time, tried to veto the bill, but it was ultimately withdrawn before it could be debated in the Constitutional Committee.
The bill resurfaced on Sunday, with Rothman, the Constitutional Committee chair, announcing that debate would begin Tuesday morning.
Opposition leaders announced on Sunday that they would filibuster all proposed legislation in Monday’s Knesset plenary session, extending the session late into the night and trying to halt debate on Tuesday morning.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition have once again proven that, as long as they survive, politics come before anything else. Specifically, with the north burning and the south at war, the coalition has decided to push through a twisted bill, stoking division and rewriting the record books. We blocked the bill’s advance three months ago and will continue to do everything in our power to block it. We must once again ask for the people’s trust and form a united Zionist government capable of meeting the challenges,” Gantz said in a statement.
The bill’s resurfacing is linked to a broader ongoing political and legal battle surrounding the upcoming election for chief rabbi.
The current chief rabbis, David Lau (Ashkenazi) and Yisak Yosef (Sephardic), began their 10-year terms in July 2013 and were due to step down in July 2023. However, the coalition has extended their terms twice, and they are now scheduled to step down on July 1.
Israeli law requires that a new chief rabbi must be elected at least one month before the end of his predecessor’s term, but the Ministry of Religious Affairs failed to meet this deadline. A petition filed by lawyer Aviad Hacohen, currently before the High Court, seeks to force the country to hold elections immediately.
No official reason was given as to why the elections were not held as scheduled. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has not even begun the necessary procedure to begin the electoral process, i.e. to inform the 150-member Electoral Commission of the date of the elections at least 21 days in advance. According to Hacohen, this is because Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri has been trying to influence the Electoral Commission to appoint his brother, Beersheba’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri, as Chief Rabbi for the Sephardim. Deri is also reportedly trying to give the senior rabbi position to the outgoing Chief Rabbi’s brother, Rabbi David Yosef. Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist Party is openly working to appoint a Religious Zionist to the position of Chief Rabbi for the Ashkenazims.
Deri’s control of the Sephardic branch of the Chief Rabbi, along with a reintroduced bill that would give the Chief Rabbi and the Shas-controlled Ministry of Religious Affairs greater power to appoint rabbis for cities, towns, and neighborhoods, gives Deri and the Shas influence enormous sway over the entire rabbinate.
Hacohen and others have also criticized the electoral body for a conflict of interest, as the outgoing Chief Rabbi has the power to select the 10 representatives, even though both of his brothers are candidates for the position. Other groups have also criticized the insufficient representation of women in the electoral body. Israel’s Chief Rabbi (Photo courtesy of FLASH 90)
The legally established electoral body for the Chief Rabbi includes 80 rabbis and 70 elected officials. The rabbis include representatives from the municipal and district levels, religious courts, and military rabbinates, as well as 10 representatives selected by the outgoing Chief Rabbi. Elected officials include the mayor, the leader of the Religious Council, two government representatives, five Knesset representatives, and 10 public figures selected by the Minister of Religion. In addition to selecting the two Chief Rabbis, this body also selects the 15-member Chief Rabbinical Council.
But the procedure for appointing municipal and regional rabbis is not codified and is based on a series of executive decrees. A spokesman for the Constitutional Commission said in a statement that the purpose of the bill is to codify the election procedure for these rabbis.
In addition to opposition lawmakers, coalition Knesset members also criticized the bill. Leaked screenshots from the Constitutional Committee’s WhatsApp group showed two Likud members, Moshe Saada and Tally Gotliv, objecting to the timing of the bill’s reintroduction, while Likud member Dan Illouz also voiced opposition to the bill’s contents, saying it would “weaken, not strengthen, local authorities in rabbinic appointments.”
“Local governments need to become stronger… Leadership needs to become less centralized and give more power to mayors and local authorities. Furthermore, rabbis need to care about the people they serve and get to know their communities intimately,” Illouz wrote.
“In any case, wartime is not the time to pursue such a controversial bill and it would give the public the strong impression that we are playing politics rather than acting to achieve our war aims,” Illouz concluded.
