Uproar over bill intended to increase religious party's control over rabbinical establishment

Israeli politicians criticized on Sunday a decision by the coalition to renew controversial legislation of a bill intended to increase the coalition's orthodox and ultra-Orthodox (haredi) political party's control over Israel's rabbinical establishment.

The bill in question would alter the makeup of the committee that elects Israel's rabbis at the municipal and neighborhood level, effectively giving the Chief Rabbinate, which includes the usually Shas-affiliated Sephardic chief rabbi and the Shas-run religious affairs ministry, power to elect these rabbis instead of the local authorities themselves. The bill, proposed by MK Simcha Rothman from the Religious Zionist Party and MK Erez Malul of Shas, is widely viewed as an attempt to appoint rabbis affiliated with the two parties to rabbinical posts, which offer influence, status, and relatively high salaries. It would also give them greater influence over issues of religion and state in cities and neighborhoods, including in secular cities.

The bill was first proposed in June 2023 and debated in the Knesset Constitution Committee from July through September. It was widely criticized at the time. Some opposition Knesset members linked it to the government's controversial judicial reform in that it wished to consolidate government power over the rabbinic establishment, which enjoys statutory judicial power over issues such as marital status, kashrut, and burial.

The bill was put on the back burner after the Hamas massacre on October 7 and the following war, and only reemerged in March. Both National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz and United Right chairman MK Gideon Sa'ar, who were part of the coalition at the time, attempted to veto the bill, and it was eventually removed before debate commenced in the constitution committee.

The bill reemerged once more on Sunday, as Rothman, who is the constitution committee chairman, announced that debates would commence on Tuesday morning.

Leaders of the opposition parties countered on Sunday by announcing that they would filibuster all of Monday's bill proposals in the Knesset plenum in an attempt to extend the plenum late into the night and thus lead to a cancellation of the Tuesday morning debate.

Gantz wrote in a statement, "Netanyahu and his coalition are proving again that for them, politics is above all else – as long as they survive. Specifically, now, when the North is burning and the South is at war, the coalition decided to advance a twisted bill, to stoke divisiveness, and to break new records of disconnection. We prevented the bill's advancement three months ago, and will do everything to prevent it now as well. We need to return to request the trust of the people, and form a national, unified, and Zionist government that can meet the challenges."

The bill's reemergence is connected to a broader ongoing political and legal saga over the upcoming chief rabbinate elections.

Current chief rabbis David Lau (Ashkenazic) and Yizhak Yosef (Sephardic) began their ten-year tenures in July 2013 and were thus scheduled to retire in July 2023. However, the coalition extended their tenures twice, and they are currently scheduled to retire on July 1.

Israeli law requires that new chief rabbis must be elected at least a month prior to the end of the previous tenures, but the religious affairs ministry failed to meet this deadline. A petition, filed by Adv. Prof. Aviad Hacohen, is currently proceeding in the High Court of Justice, attempting to force the state to hold the election immediately.

No official reason has been given for the failure to hold the election on time. The religious affairs ministry has not even launched the necessary procedure to begin the election process, namely, notifying the 150-member election body of the date of the election at least 21 days in advance. According to Hacohen, this is because Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri has been attempting to influence the election body so that it appoints his brother, Beersheba chief rabbi Yehuda Deri, as Sephardic Chief Rabbi. Deri reportedly is also attempting to grant Rabbi David Yosef, brother of the outgoing chief rabbi, a senior rabbinic position as well. Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist Party is openly acting to appoint a religious Zionist to the Ashkenazi chief rabbi post.

Deri's control over the chief rabbinate's Sephardic branch, coupled with the reemerged bill that grants the chief rabbinate and Shas-controlled religious affairs ministry greater power in appointing municipal and neighborhood rabbis, would thus especially give him and his Shas party power immense influence over the entire rabbinic establishment.

In addition, Hacohen and others have criticized what they argue is a conflict-of-interest in the election body, as the outgoing chief rabbis how the power to elect 10 representatives despite both of their brothers being candidates for the next chief rabbi posts. Other organizations have also criticized insufficient representation of women in the electing body.

The election body for the chief rabbis, which is written in law, includes 80 rabbis and 70 elected officials. The rabbis include representatives at the municipal level, the neighborhood level, the religious courts, the military rabbinate, and 10 representatives elected by the outgoing chief rabbis. The elected officials include mayors, religious council leaders, two government and five Knesset representatives, and 10 public figures chosen by the religious affairs minister. In addition to electing the two chief rabbis, this body also elects the 15-member Chief Rabbinate Council.

However, the process of appointing municipal and neighborhood rabbis has not been codified and is based on a series of executive directives. A spokesperson for the constitution committee said in a statement that the bill's goal was to codify the election process for these rabbis.

In addition to the opposition MKs, members of the Knesset from the coalition also voiced their criticism of the bill. A leaked screenshot from the constitution committee WhatsApp group showed that two Likud MKs, Moshe Saada and Tally Gotliv, opposed the timing of the bill's reemergence, and Likud MK Dan Illouz also voiced his opposition to the content of the bill, which he said "weakens the local authorities in appointing rabbis, instead of strengthening them."

"The local authorities need to be much stronger … The direction needs to be less centralized and have more power for mayors and local authorities. In addition, rabbis need to be attentive to the public they serve and be deeply familiar with their communities," Illouz wrote.

"In any case, wartime is not the time to advance such a controversial bill, and gives the public a deep feeling as if we are wheeling and dealing instead of acting to reach the goals of the war," Illouz concluded.