Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau sent a letter to the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit informing him that until the unnecessary and overbearing interference of the appointed legal advisor to the Council of the Chief Rabbinate ceases of changes, Rabbi Lau would be canceling all meetings of the Council. This is an unprecedented move by the Chief Rabbi and shows his disdain for the machinations of the Legal Advisor appointed by the Attorney General’s office.

In his letter, Rabbi Lau illustrates that the job of the Legal Advisor to the council is one which gives the Legal Advisor the authority to notify the council if any of their decision contradicts Israeli law, and if they do, then to help advise the council on how to rectify the decision so that it expresses the spirit of what the council intended while adhering to Israeli law.

However, accord to Chief Rabbi Lau, the current Legal Advisor, Harel Goldberg, has usurped his position and is forcing his will on the council in order to become an overseer and gain control of all decisions made by the council. The letter illustrated numerous examples of Goldberg’s interference and his striking down of decisions made by the Council under the guise of procedural incompatibilities.

According to Rabbi Lau the situation has gotten so bad hat Goldberg even strikes down the protocols of the meeting before the meetings have taken place, forcing Rabbi Lau to rework the schedules and list of topics to be discussed, because they did not fit in with Goldberg’s Weltanschauung.

In conclusion, Rabbi Lau wrote to Mandelblit: “I have grown weary of the daily fights that exhaust me and prevent me from carrying out the policies of this council as I have set down for myself. I am giving notice that so long as the legal office of the Chief Rabbinate does not change its style of operation and recognize its correct place in the hierarchy of operations, there will no longer be Council meetings for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and all of the important matters on its docket that need attention will go unanswered.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)