‘Don’t Sell to Arabs’ Rabbi Backed in Israel Race for Sephardic Chief
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Most of the members of the Jewish Home Knesset faction support the election of Safed’s chief rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, as Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel.
The MKs have voiced their support despite criticism of Eliyahu’s candidacy even within the religious Zionist movement because of racist statements he has made in the past. Haaretz checked and found that at least seven of the 12 Habayit Hayehudi lawmakers would support Eliyahu for the post.
Eliyahu has not formally declared his candidacy and in recent weeks, he has been seeking support for his candidacy elsewhere, for example among ultra-Orthodox rabbis throughout the country. Eliyahu is accompanied on his visits to these leaders by Rabbi Simcha Hacohen Kook, the chief rabbi of Rehovot.
Although Habayit Hayehudi has not held a meeting on the matter, the issue is high on the priorities of party chairman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who is also the religious services minister.
Bennett’s associates say that he tends to support Eliyahu but is hesitating to say so openly because of the expected public criticism that would follow. Bennett is said to have been very close to Eliyahu even before the last Knesset election, and according to one close associate “he supports Rabbi Eliyahu for chief rabbi, but it’s unlikely he’ll commit suicide over it.”
For more go to Haaretz
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
