The Cabinet decided yesterday to postpone for the third time elections for the chief rabbinate. The elections, are now scheduled to take place on Oct. 16.
Religious Affairs Minister Zerah Warhaftig, in recommending the postponement to the Cabinet, explained that because of legal complications the preparations for the election could not be completed in time for August 31, the date set by the Knesset last month for the elections. MK Mordechai Surkiss, chairman of the election committee, had asked Warhaftig to secure the postponement.
The legal complications were caused by an appeal to the high court two weeks ago on the part of four Haifa men, who filed protests against various decisions of the election committee. They claimed that it was unreasonable for the present two chief rabbis, themselves up for reelection, to be members of the appeals commission hearing appeals from the election committee rulings.
The court upheld this contention, and as a result, three members of the election committee resigned. The three, all rabbis, claimed that they too might be candidates to the chief rabbinate council, and therefore could no longer take part in the election preparations. One of the three has since been replaced, and the election committee is carrying on with a minimum legal quorum of three out of five.
Today’s postponement is a success for those right wing elements in the religious party who hope to have the election deferred indefinitely, and thus keep Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Tel Aviv chief rabbi, out of the chief rabbinate. Rabbi Goren is a leading contender for the position of Ashkenazi chief rabbi.
The right wing circle believes that the closer the date of the national elections approaches in the fall of 1973, the less will be the pressure to hold the rabbinate elections, Meanwhile incumbent Chief Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman, who is more acceptable to the rightists, will remain in office. The reasoning behind this thinking apparently is that the closer the national elections are, the less the National Religious Party will want to anger its more orthodox voters by pressing for Rabbi Goren’s election, as it is doing at present.
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