Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman filed a complaint on Wednesday to the Ombudsman for Public Complaints against Chief Rabbi HaRav Lau for his letter threatening to freeze giyur if the head of Giyur Authority is dismissed.

Lieberman wrote in the letter that “Chief Rabbi Lau, who serves as the Nasi of the Beis Din HaRabbani HaGadol, sent a letter to the prime minister in which he announced that if the giyur reform is advanced and if the head of the Giyur Authority is dismissed, he will be forced to remove his responsibility from the giyur process and immediately stop approving giyur certificates transferred to him as part of his position.”

“Conditioning the continued signing of giyur certificates on the continued tenure of the head of the Giyur Authority constitutes an implicit threat, not to mention extortion,” Lieberman wrote.

Lieberman added that if Rav Lau carries out his threat, he’ll delay giyur and harm the public, “especially IDF soldiers and Ethiopians who want to convert.” He concluded the letter by stating that Rav Lau’s behavior is not appropriate for a dayan in the state of Israel and “therefore the continuation of his tenure as Nasi of the Beis HaDin HaRabbani HaGadol should be examined.”

Oren Henig, the head of Mercaz Liba, wrote in response to the letter: “The chutzpah of Lieberman has crossed every line. Since the establishment of the state, no public servent has expressed such contempt against the Chief Rabbi who serves as a leader in Israel and throughout the world. A red line has been crossed. It’s a busha for the kippah-wearers Bennett and Kahana who continue to divide the nation and erode the Jewish character of the state of Israel and lend legitimacy to the denigration of the Rabbanut and Chief Rabbis.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)