A bitter contest is shaping up in Israel’s Chief Rabbinate elections. Rabbi Shlomo Goren announced yesterday that he was a candidate for the office of Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi, making official what the public has more or less taken for granted for weeks. Dr. Yosef Burg, Minister of Interior and a leader of the National Religious Party, confirmed in Jerusalem that the 86-year-old incumbent Chief Rabbi, Issar Yehuda Unterman, intends to stand for re-election. According to Dr. Burg, Unterman told him he would.
Rabbi Goren, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, left this morning on a 20-day visit to Europe and the US. He will be guest of honor at the Israel Independence Day celebrations of the Belgian Zionist Federation in Brussels and will then go to Vienna to observe the processing of Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union on their way to Israel.
Rabbi Goren, the former chief chaplain of Israel’s armed forces, is favored for the Chief Rabbinate post by the more liberal elements of the religious establishment here. He reportedly has the support of Premier Golda Meir and her Labor Party and of substantial portions of the NRP. Rabbi Unterman is supported by ultra-Orthodox elements here and abroad who have been urging him to stand for re-election despite his advanced age, NRP leaders have been trying on the other hand to persuade Rabbi Unterman to accept the title of honorary Chief Rabbi for life.
According to reliable sources they have also offered to support his candidacy for Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, a post that has been vacant for years. Rabbi Unterman has stated that he didn’t want honorary posts that carried no real authority but has not stated publicly yet that he intends to run for reelection.
Without Unterman’s candidacy, a victory for Rabbi Goren would seem assured. His supporters claim that the election of Rabbi Goren would avert a brewing struggle in Israel over the rigidity of the present Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Goren has received several threatening letters in recent weeks which police are investigating. An attempt was made to set his house on fire several weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Joseph Ovadia, disclosed that he is considering becoming a candidate for the office of Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, presently occupied by Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim. He said he has not yet made any final decision.
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