A Bnei Brak rabbi has refused to officiate at the marriage of the son of Avigdor Liberman, the head of the Yisrael Beytenu party.
Rabbi Baruch Dov Diskin, who is the rosh yeshiva of the Orchot Torah yeshiva in Bnei Brak, said he did not want to appear to endorse the politician, who is staunchly anti-haredi.
Amos Liberman lived a haredi lifestyle, attends Diskin’s yeshiva and maintains a close relationship with him, according to reports.
The rabbi would need special permission to officiate at the marriage since he is not registered with the chief rabbinate to perform wedding ceremonies, The Yeshiva World news website reported.
Rabbi David Grossman, who has officiated at many high-profile weddings in Israel, reportedly will officiate.
Another controversy surrounding the wedding being reported by Israeli media is that Amos Liberman wants to have a haredi wedding, with complete separation between men and women but his father objects.
“The wedding will be Jewish, not haredi, as there will be rabbis, secular people and religious people at the wedding,” Liberman’s office told Israeli media in a statement.