Ultra-Orthodox rabbi refuses to marry Liberman’s son over political fight

An ultra-Orthodox rabbi has refused to officiate the wedding of Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman’s son due to Liberman’s bad blood with the ultra-Orthodox community.

Rabbi Baruch Dov Diskin declined to marry Amos Liberman, who is ultra-Orthodox and studied with Diskin in Bnei Brak, where the two became close, Channel 12 news reported on Wednesday.

“Liberman has become an enemy of the ultra-Orthodox community and the rabbi didn’t want to meet him,” one of the rabbi’s associates said. “Amos isn’t guilty, but the rabbi is a well-known character in the community, and if he participates in the wedding it could look like a kind of familiarity or support for an enemy. It’s a problem everywhere that Yvette goes,” he said, using a nickname for Liberman.

Instead of Diskin, Rabbi David Grossman, who officiated at Bar Rafaeli’s wedding, conducted Thursday’s ceremony.

זמן חתונה:
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Amos Liberman reportedly wanted men and women separated at the wedding, however, while his father preferred a partial separation, so the ceremony would not have an ultra-Orthodox character. It was not clear which approach eventually won out.

Liberman’s office responded to the reports ahead of the ceremony, saying: “The wedding will be Jewish and not ultra-Orthodox, in that there will be rabbis and both secular and religious attendees.”