Religious services minister appears to begin process of selecting rabbis, indicating Shas has yielded on ‘Rabbis Law’

Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli requests a list of representatives to serve on selection committees for municipal rabbis from the Chief Rabbinate, apparently indicating that his ultra-Orthodox Shas party has given up on passing a controversial “Rabbis Law,” which would have increased his influence over the appointment process.

Malkieli initiated the process following delays caused by Shas’s desire to hold off on choosing new rabbis prior to the bill’s passage, the Ynet news site reports, stating that the party no longer saw an opportunity for the bill’s passage in the Knesset plenum.

A copy of a letter sent to Malkieli by the Chief Rabbinate, seen by The Times of Israel, shows representatives being appointed to selection committees in 48 separate municipalities, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.

Contacted by The Times of Israel, a spokesman for the minister says that the minister is merely making sure that the law is being followed, stating that his “initiative is to uphold the law.”

Asked if this means that Shas has given up on the law, the spokesman replies that he does not believe so, “but there is an understanding that it is not certain that it would pass.”

Advanced by Shas in June, the first version of the law would have created hundreds of publicly funded jobs for Orthodox rabbis, while giving the Chief Rabbinate of Israel considerable say in the appointment of all new municipal rabbis, reversing changes instituted in 2022 by the previous government.

After being blocked by two Likud lawmakers, Shas advanced a more limited version of the bill, which aimed at granting Malkieli the power to allocate additional funds to local religious councils around the country.

However, that legislation was repeatedly blocked as part of an ongoing dispute with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who stated that he would hold it up until given greater influence over the course of the war by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Spokespeople for Shas and MK Erez Malul, the bill’s sponsor, did not respond to requests for comment regarding the implications of Malkieli’s decision to advance the process of choosing municipal rabbis.

“We are gratified that the law has been tabled — at least for now. However, we remain concerned that the Shas minister will use his influence to manipulate municipalities to appoint rabbis to lifetime positions,” says Rabbi Seth Farber, the director of the ITIM advocacy group, which opposed the legislation.