Aides to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicate the prime minister has decided the government’s representatives on the voting body for the nation’s chief rabbis will be women, cabinet ministers. They also signal the prime minister was shocked at the Bayit Yehudi party’s decision to veto the Stern Bill, which seeks to add 50 people to the voting body, including women and others from different walks of Israeli life.
Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin told the Good Morning Israel radio program spoke of the difficulties existing in the coalition. He explained to Micha Friedman that the “coalition cannot exist without Yesh Atid and Bayit Yehudi. Therefore, it is known that at any given moment one of the partners may try to bend his colleagues hand and at times, try to break it because he hasn’t any alternative.”
At present it appears that Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett will not reverse his decision vetoing the Stern Bill. It also appears that the prime minister will continue backing the candidacy of Modi’in Chief Rabbi David Lau for the post of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi while the Bayit Yehudi, Yesh Atid, The Movement and Labor parties back Rabbi David Stav.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
I am gratified that the Prime Minister is at least backing up the candidate who has the Benedictions of Rav Chaim Kanievsky & Rav Steinman, amongst other Choshuv Rabbonim.
May this portend Siyata d’Shemayo.