The Knesset has approved the proposal of MK Elazar Stern (Hatnuah) to allow only Rabbis who have experience and ordination as Rabbinical Judges as well as having served as Chief Rabbi of a city to present their candidacy for the Chief Rabbinate. The proposal also requires members of the Chief Rabbinate Council to have served previously as Chief Rabbis of a city or Regional Council, or as a Rabbinical Judge. Additionally, according to the proposal, it will be necessary to expand the 150-member Chief Rabbinate Election Committee to include 50 more members, including many women of variegated religious affiliation as well as Rabbis of Kibbutzim.
The preliminary Knesset reading of the law was approved 53-14.