Rabbi Chaim Amsalem on the defeat: "I was not given the opportunity to make the change""

October 21, 2014   

Candidate Rabbi Chaim Amsalem, who ran for the position of Sephardic Chief Rabbi in the Jerusalem Rabbinate elections, responded this evening (Tuesday) to the election results, in which he won by only two votes: ""This evening, the elections for the Jerusalem rabbinate were held, for which I presented my candidacy. ""I submitted my candidacy out of a value-based goal to continue to instill the principles of moderate Judaism, unity, and the bringing of hearts together. I tried to do this from within the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, to influence and correct from within. Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity to make the change in this way. ""I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported and cooperated over the past few weeks out of faith in the righteousness of the path. With God's help, I will continue to act and make the important voice of moderate and traditional Judaism heard, as I have done so far.". Rabbi Amsalem's crushing failure also stemmed from the fact that even the 'Awakening' faction, which initially announced its support for him, gave the 3 votes of its representatives to Rishon Lezion HaGar's Amar, in order to block the election of the eminent Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.