The Chief Rabbis of Israel will have their terms extended by a few months, as elections for new chief rabbis are delayed.
The elections were originally scheduled for August.
According to Kikar Hashabbat, Religious Affairs Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) is expected to announce the decision, following an appeal by the Representation for Zionist Synagogues to the Supreme Court, claiming that there is a real chance of harm to the purity of elections due to the fact that the elections for the Chief Rabbinate fall out close to the elections for local authorities.
Malkieli's decision means that the current Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau, will continue in their positions, serving at least 10.5 years.
It should be noted that the previous Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar and Rabbi Yona Metzger, also had their terms extended by a few months, due to the Knesset elections which took place at the time.
On Friday, the State is expected to inform the Supreme Court that it intends to begin legislation, which will delay the elections for the Chief Rabbinate, and that the elections will be held around February or March next year.
Shas has not yet decided who should be the next Sephardic Chief Rabbi: Rabbi David Yosef, or Rabbi Yehuda Deri. Delaying the elections by six months will allow the coalition to pass legislation which will allow Rabbi Yaakov Shapira to run for the position of Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi.