Nephew of Shas chair Deri appointed Beersheba’s chief rabbi

Rabbi Avraham Deri, the nephew of Sephardi Haredi party Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, is appointed chief rabbi of the southern city of Beersheba.

His father, Rabbi Yehuda Deri, held the position for over 25 years until he died in July 2024.

“This is a day of great joy for me with the election of the dear, distinguished Rabbi Avraham Deri, as chief rabbi of the city of Beersheba, as the successor to his father — my beloved brother — the distinguished Rabbi Yehuda Deri, of blessed memory, who brought about a profound spiritual transformation in the city through selfless devotion,” Aryeh Deri says in a statement.

The selection of a city’s rabbi is carried out by a committee comprising representatives of the city council, appointees of the Religious Services Ministry, and the head of the local religious council.

According to a ministry spokesperson, the younger Deri received 26 votes, beating Rabbi Yoram Cohen by one vote. According to reports in the Haredi press, Cohen was supported by the city’s mayor Ruvik Danilovich. A third candidate, Rabbi Gad Revach, supported by the Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism’s Lithuanian faction Degel HaTorah, received two votes.

Eyebrows had been raised when former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef declared Avraham Deri to be his father’s successor during the latter’s funeral.

Municipal rabbis are meant to serve as the direct religious authority for the Jewish residents of their city or town, signing off on things like marriage licenses and kosher certificates for local restaurants.

Last week, Shas and Degel HaTorah were in a spat over the election of the Savyon chief rabbi in central Israel, after neither group managed to get their candidate elected, paving the way for the appointment of national-religious Rabbi Uri Sadan, a member of the moderate Orthodox organization Tzohar.