In spite of the original election having taken place in the summer of 2017, no new Chief Rabbi has been chosen as of yet for the city of Beit Shemesh. Over the course of the battle for the position, the matter was brought before Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and the President of Committee of Sages without a final decision being given.

New elections were mandated, but no date was set for a very lengthy period of time. This past week, the High Court of Justice issued an order mandating the City of Beit Shemesh to set a date for elections soon. This was after the same High Court forced the cessation of the election that was supposed to be held over the summer and issued their directive only two weeks before the election was supposed to take place.

The Attorney General issued a statement following the decision of the High Court. “The entire process must start from scratch. This includes renewing the electoral body as well as the presentation of candidates. New candidates will be allowed to join in running for the position.

The claimants in the suit against the elections for the Chief Rabbi claimed that the entire process was done in a faulty fashion and that electorates were decided in an improper manner. Another claim was that certain candidates were disqualified out of hand as they could not comply with the pre-determined conditions set in place by the electoral body. Claimants also asked that two of the candidates be disqualified as they were unfit for the position.

Following the decision, the city will no be forced to redo the entire process of the election and do it quickly.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)