The delay in the elections for the Jerusalem Rabbinate continues: Contrary to reports, at the city council meeting held last Thursday, the United Torah Judaism faction in Jerusalem did not submit the names of the representatives who would represent the faction in the electorate for the city rabbinate.
This step effectively postpones the election process by another two months, because there is a break in July and no council meeting is held. The next meeting will not be held until the end of August, which may lead to the election being postponed until after the Tishrei holidays.
As we have already reported, the Haredi factions are seeking to drag their feet and postpone the elections as much as possible, in order to disqualify the candidate of Religious Zionism, the great Rabbi Aryeh Stern, who will celebrate his 70th birthday in November. According to the law, age is a threshold requirement for serving as a city rabbi.
Senior city officials told Haredim10 that Mayor Nir Barkat's people made it clear to United Torah Judaism representatives that Minister of Religious Affairs Naftali Bennett intends to exercise his authority to appoint the representatives himself, in order to bring about the elections at the desired date from the perspective of Jewish Home and the mayor - in the middle of the month of Elul.
Deputy Minister Eli Ben Dahan sent a letter to Nir Barkat last month, in which he announced that if the ultra-Orthodox factions do not soon appoint their representatives to the electorate, the minister will use his authority and appoint representatives without consulting the factions in the municipality.
But it turns out that the Torah movement is not really afraid of these threats.
Although the names of the representatives were not officially submitted, the list is already known: council members Yaakov Halperin (Shlomi Emunim), Yohanan Weizman (Gur), Michal Halberstam (Balza), chairman of the Degel Hatorah secretariat Eli Weinman, Avraham Weber, and former council member Moshe Gura.
On the other hand, the Shas faction submitted the names of its representatives, and they were approved at the last council meeting held on Thursday. The representatives are: council members Nachmaniel Saban and Michael Malchieli, Avraham Bezalel, assistant to Deputy Mayor Zvika Cohen, and Erez Malul, one of the people of Rabbi Yosef.
Sources we spoke with had difficulty explaining Shas' lack of coordination with United Torah Judaism, but said that in principle, Shas and United Torah Judaism are working together in full cooperation, in order to bring about the election of rabbis who are acceptable to the elders of Israel.
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