Shas leader to Bennett: Support chief rabbi deal

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, has expressed support for a deal that would pave the way for Rabbi Yaakov Ariel to become the next Ashkenazi chief rabbi, and keep incumbent Rabbi Shlomo Amar as chief Sephardi rabbi.

Shas released a letter by Yosef, expressing his desire to reach a deal with Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, over the issue.

Choosing a new chief rabbi, the head of a state religious bureaucracy, usually involves backroom dealing and draws little public interest. The vote is currently limited to 150 people: a delegation made up of 70 rabbis, mostly from Israel’s biggest cities and towns; and 80 “public representatives” — mayors, Knesset members chosen by committee, and heads of local religious councils.

The proposed arrangement calls for Bennett to support two legislative changes in exchange for Shas’s backing of Ariel. In order for Amar to stay in office, an amendment must be passed to permit chief rabbis to serve more than one term. Ariel, chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, also won’t be eligible unless the maximum age of 70 is raised.

Yosef also asked Bennett to refrain from supporting legislation to expand the selection body for the chief rabbinate from its limited 150 selectors. The bill, introduced by MK Elazar Stern (Hatnua), would also increase female representation on the committee.

Despite the letter, Bennett and his party are unlikely to agree to the deal. He and most of his party have supported Rabbi David Stav, whose Tzohar organization seeks to make Judaism more accessible to Israelis.

Stav has cultivated an image as the liberals’ solution to a Rabbinate dominated by the ultra-Orthodox, and he is waging a public campaign in advance of the chief-rabbi elections that has won him a strong base of popular support. He also enjoys the backing of MKs in the opposition.

In an interview with The Times of Israel last year, Stav defended the existence of the Rabbinate and the Orthodox monopoly on religious services, saying the alternative was “the disintegration of the components of Jewish identity in Israel.”

Ariel, for his part, is being pushed as a “consensus” candidate by several prominent religious Zionist rabbis.

The past few Israeli chief rabbis, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi, have been ultra-Orthodox — a testament to the growing numbers and clout of the haredi community in Israel.

No date for a vote has been officially set, but the decision is expected in June.

JTA contributed to this report