Will the United Jerusalem party decide to run with Tzfas Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita as its candidate in the Jerusalem Rabbinate race?

Jerusalem City Councilmen Aryeh King and Shmuel Shkedy announced that they are determined to elect two dati leumi rabbonim in the city’s rabbinate race and they are therefore opposed to brewing deals with chareidim which involve one chareidi and one dati leumi rav.

The deal that seems to have been made with City Hall will result in a dati leumi Ashkenazi chief rabbi while the Sephardi post would go to a chareidi candidate affiliated with Shas.

In the media release from King, he explains that an analysis of the current electorate has persuaded him there is a golden opportunity, to elect a dati leumi rabbi in both positions and therefore, his party does not plan on missing the opportunity. This is why his party does not plan to back Mayor Nir Barkat’s deal which only seeks to elect one dati leumi rav, in the post of Ashkenazi chief rabbi.

Srugim, which is dati leumi affiliated, reports that Bayit Yehudi is working to have Rabbi Aryeh Stern elected as the Ashkenazi chief rabbi but the dati leumi party is now working to have Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu elected to the Sephardi post. Therefore the United Jerusalem party has decided to pick up the gauntlet and go with Rabbi Eliyahu in the hope of emerging from the race with two dati leumi chief rabbis in Yerushalayim.

In the party’s statement, United Jerusalem explains the mayor has been informed of its decision, adding they are backing rabbonim who are accepted by most of the residents and kehillos, rabbonim who are qualified and will work to unite the city, preserve the city’s kedusha, kedushas Shabbos and protect the religious status quo.

King feels these two rabbonim are also keenly aware of issues pertaining to Eretz Yisrael and this too is important for if the government signs a deal with the PA (Palestinian Authority), these matters will also become relevant.

“Therefore the current deal backed by the mayor is unacceptable to us. Just as the two Chief Rabbis of Israel represent the chareidi sector, we will work to elect two dati leumi chief rabbis of the capital” explains King.

Srugim concludes that chareidi officials responding to the report point out that in all elections in which they tried to elect two dati leumi rabbis, two chareidi rabbonim were elected to the post.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)