The Knesset Ministerial Committee for Legislation was
expected to approve a bill proposal that would merge Israel's two chief rabbi
positions into a single position, regardless of ancestral background.
Currently, there are two chief rabbis, one of Sephardic
origin and the other Ashkenazi. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) proposed
the bill, along with Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett and MK Eli Ben-Dahan,
both from Habayit Hayehudi.
The three are also proposing to separate the powers of the
Rabbinical Jewish Courts from the Rabbinate. The change would fix the
discrepancy of the chief rabbis serving as judges in the rabbinical courts,
even though they have never acted as judges before.
If the bill passes, the president of the rabbinical courts
will be chosen from the pool of rabbinical judges who currently serve in the
rabbinical courts, similar to how the president of the Supreme Court is chosen
from among the court's judges.
Livni said the democratic path is for the rabbinate to have
only one leader.
"In a state where there is only one president, one
Supreme Court president, one prime minister and one chief of general staff,
there is no way to justify the doubling of the position of chief rabbi,"
she said. "We have to rid ourselves of the old-fashioned division of
ancestral congregations and start bringing the country together."
Bennett also spoke of the opportunity for unification.
"This is a course of action that shows the nation's
solidarity," he said.
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