The possibility of holding elections for the posts of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis on the scheduled date of August 26, appeared dim today following a decision by Attorney General Gideon Hauser which declared that the meeting last week, at which the nominating board set the date for the election, was invalid because it was “hastily convened.”
At the same time, the Attorney General ruled that the Chief Rabbinate Council had no right to recall one of its four appointees to the eight-man board and that none of the board members could themselves resign. The Chief Rabbinate Council decided last week to boycott the initial meeting of the nominating board claiming that the Council was given only 24 hours notice of the meeting.
One of the Council’s appointees to the board, Rabbi Amram Aburavia, disregarded the boycott and attended the meeting together with the four appointees of the Ministry for Religious Affairs. It was at this meeting that the board, under the chairmanship of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Maimon, set the August 26 date for the meeting of the 70 electors who actually vote for the two Chief Rabbis.
The Chief Rabbinate Council promptly withdrew the accreditation of Rabbi Aburavia and appointed someone else in his place. The nominating board then referred the matter to the Attorney General.
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