Amid nepotism claims, new rabbinical judges appointed for first time in 7 years
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri’s son-in-law one of 21 appointees, among whom are Ashkenazi Haredi, Sephardi Haredi, and national religious men
Rossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
Twenty-one new rabbinical judges (or dayanim in Hebrew) were appointed on Sunday, the first such appointments in seven years.
While the Chief Rabbinate praised the development as a significant achievement, the move has drawn accusations of alleged nepotism and political bargaining. Rabbi Elkanah Senans, son-in-law of Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri, is one of the appointees.
“This is a historic day for the rabbinical court system in Israel,” Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef, the head of the Grand Rabbinical Court, said at the end of a meeting with the new judges, according to a statement by his spokesperson. “The appointment of 21 distinguished, God-fearing, and highly respected Torah scholars represents a significant step in strengthening the world of rabbinical law and improving service to the public.”
Rabbinical courts in Israel are part of the judiciary and enjoy extensive powers, including over divorce, the Jewish status of Israelis, and conversions. As required by halacha (Jewish law), only religiously observant men can serve as judges.
The committee that appoints new dayanim includes rabbis, Knesset members from the coalition and the opposition, serving rabbinical judges, lawyers and members of the Bar Association.
The appointments were enabled by a deal among three religious Knesset parties — United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Religious Zionism — each securing seven new judges.
“In recent decades, to ensure representation across sectors and avoid appointing judges from a single group, committee members have followed an informal agreement: one-third of the judges are Sephardic Haredi, one-third Ashkenazi Haredi, and one-third national religious,” wrote Shilo Fried, the Ynet news site’s correspondent on Haredi affairs.
The new judges from the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox community are Rabbi Shlomo Rosenthal, Rabbi Israel Meir Kook, Rabbi Zvi Schindler, Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin Halperin, Rabbi Israel Chaim Wingut, Rabbi Shimon Mann and Rabbi Chaim Salz.
Senans, Rabbi Eyal Giat, Rabbi Eliyahu Cohen, Rabbi Itay Zaberlo, Rabbi Avraham Cheshai, Rabbi Golan Alof, and Rabbi Moshe Tzaig were selected to represent the Sephardic Haredim.
The seven national religious dayanim are Rabbi Yechiel Freiman, Rabbi Yaakov Shpongin, Rabbi Yedidya Kahane, Rabbi Aviad Tapuchi, Rabbi Yeshua Saadia Ratvi, Rabbi Doron Alon, and Rabbi Yair Aton.
21 הדיינים החדשים במעונו של נשיא בית הדין הגדול הראשון לציון הגאון רבי דוד יוסף pic.twitter.com/jttLzefqU4
— ישי כהן (@ishaycoen) May 19, 2025
As noted by the religious rights group ITIM, nine appointees have close familial ties with religious rabbinical or political leaders.
In addition to Senans, according to the organization, Alon, Cheshai, and Schindler are all first-degree relatives of former or current judges in the Grand Rabbinical Court (Schindler’s father also sits on the same committee that appointed his son). In addition, Kook is the son-in-law of Rabbi Yekutiel Efrati, a member of UTJ’s Rabbinical Committee. Kahane, Salz, Shpongin and Rosenthal are relatives of other dayanim.
“The religious establishment should embody values and integrity,” Rabbi Seth Farber, director of ITIM, said in a statement. “Sadly, that’s far from the reality today. Politicization and nepotism are rampant. As long as appointments hinge on politics rather than qualifications, public alienation [from religion] will only deepen.”
Ishay Cohen, a journalist and commentator for the ultra-Orthodox outlet Kikar HaShabbat, noted that the appointments also broke with longstanding precedent against selecting first-time candidates.
“For years, there was a clear rule: judges running for the first time weren’t appointed,” he wrote on X. “Dozens of candidates have been waiting through multiple rounds. Tonight, that rule was broken — several first-time candidates were selected, and, unsurprisingly, some are closely connected to senior Haredi figures.”
Fried also noted that two national religious appointees, Freiman and Shpongin, did not serve in the army.
“Military service in itself should not necessarily be a criterion, but if you want to give a place to Torah scholars for whom military service is part of their world, this is not the way,” he wrote on X.
Yoeli Brim, religious affairs correspondent for Channel 13, also noted that four of the appointees studied under Chief Rabbi Yosef: Alof, Kook, Tzaig, and Cohen.
“How did four of Rabbi David Yosef’s students… find their way to the judgeship?” he wrote on X. “It is worth remembering that Rabbi David Yosef is the president of the Grand Rabbinical Court and a member of the committee responsible for the appointments.”
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