First publication: MKs Avigdor Liberman, Oded Forer, Evgeny Sova, Sharon Nir, and Hamad Amar of Yisrael Beytenu have introduced a bill seeking to amend the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law so that, from now on, only one Chief Rabbi will serve in Israel instead of longstanding tradition of there being a Sephardic Chief Rabbi and an Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.
The proposal includes changes to several sections of the law, foremost among them replacing the term “the Chief Rabbis of Israel" with “the Chief Rabbi of Israel," abolishing the clause that allows for submitting dual candidacies, and stipulating that the Chief Rabbi will serve as president of the Chief Rabbinate Council and president of the Great Rabbinical Court.
The bill’s sponsors argue in the explanatory notes that the current duplication of the Chief Rabbi position is unnecessary and reflects an outdated worldview.
“In recent years, a public debate has arisen regarding the need for dual Chief Rabbis in Israel. In the view of many, this duplication is superfluous and expresses anachronistic concepts of separate representation for ‘Ashkenazim’ and ‘Sephardim,’" the sponsors wrote.
They added, “Now, after decades of the ingathering of exiles in the State of Israel, the time has come to adapt the institution of the Chief Rabbinate as well to Israeli society. Since there is no longer any substantive justification for maintaining two Chief Rabbis, the economic and bureaucratic savings resulting from abolishing the dual roles become an additional and significant justification."
The current bill is identical to a proposal previously submitted to the Knesset by MK Lieberman and is largely similar to a bill introduced by MK Elazar Stern in the 23rd Knesset.