From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 9, 2024
Bill extending term of Chief Rabbinate Council’s current members passes 1st reading
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Lawmakers vote 55-47 to approve the first reading of a bill extending the terms of of the Chief Rabbinate Council’s members until the end of 2024.
In its explanatory notes, the bill states that elections for both the chief rabbis and council members have been repeatedly delayed and without an extension, the terms of the current members of the council will expire, leaving their positions unfilled and as a result “the provision of important services to the entire population of Israel may be compromised.”
It also contends that it is important that the chief rabbis take part in selecting representatives to the panel that selects the Chief Rabbinate Council. The election of the next chief rabbis will occur after the expiration of the council’s current term.
Critics have alleged that the move is intended to provide the rabbinate with more time to pass a law regulating the status of women following a High Court of Justice ruling from January that said women may also be considered “rabbis” for the purposes of the Chief Rabbi Election Assembly, the body that selects the country’s two chief rabbis.
“If they extend the terms when it comes to election of the Chief Rabbinate Council then already the [next] chief rabbi can have his choice of choosing 10 men [ahead of the next Chief Rabbinate Council election] — they can pass a law saying no women are needed,” says Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder of ITIM, a nongovernmental Jerusalem-based advocacy group for reforming Israel’s religious bureaucracies.
He says this would allow conservative religious elements greater control over the composition of the Chief Rabbi Election Assembly.
The bill’s explanatory notes also state that while the council’s tenure is extended, Religious Services Minister Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli “plans to promote bills in which female representation will be added to the Chief Rabbi Election Assembly “and at the same time will clarify who can serve as representatives of the chief rabbis in the electing assembly.”
It notes that there are currently two bills on this topic on the Knesset table, including a proposal by New Hope MK Ze’ev Elkin that would limit the term rabbi to mean only men while mandating expanded representation for women.
