The High Court of Justice has halted today’s planned elections for chief rabbis in Kiryat Bialik. The election was to be held today, Sunday, 30 Nissan 5772 but this will not be the case as the court issued a restraining order at the end of last week preventing the voting from taking place.

The court was responding to a petition filed by community residents who feel the religious council has failed to include all the shuls in the electoral process and therefore, there is inadequate representation. The court has ordered the religious council to respond by justifying how the current reality is acceptable. Attorney Mordechai Eisenberg, who represents the residents, decried the sad reality that he is compelled to turn to the High Court to obtain satisfaction and that the religious council simply is uninterested in addressing the unacceptable situation.

Similar issues continue to delay the election for new chief rabbis of Jerusalem.

Since 2009 Rabbi Yosef Yashar, the chief rabbi of Akko has been filling the post temporarily after the city’s chief rabbi was compelled to step down after being indicted for crimes relating to alleged assaults committed by him.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)