Habayit Hayehudi backs liberal Orthodox candidate for chief rabbi

After long weeks of deal-making, disagreements, strife and tension within the religious Zionist community, Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that his party was backing the candidacy of Rabbi David Stav, a leader of the Tzohar organization, for the role of chief rabbi. Bennett telephoned Stav personally on Sunday to convey the message.

Bennett gathered the members of his faction and had them vote on Stav's candidacy. He described Stav as a "rabbi who will unify the people of Israel and bring about significant change in Jewish public's connection to Jewish tradition." He asked his party members to support Stav.

Stav emerged as Habayit Hayehudi's candidate after a secret ballot whose results were not revealed to the voting Knesset members.

"We need to remember that the Orthodox public is less in need of the rabbinate," Bennett said. "An Orthodox person has the rabbi of their yeshiva, the rabbi of their synagogue, a rabbi whom their friend consults. The rabbinate is first and foremost intended for the secular public, and these are great tidings we are bringing them today."

Bennett's associates are rejecting the criticism over the long time it took him to come to this decision, and over the strife caused by this.

"There was a need to look into a lot of matters surrounding the issue. In the end this is a great feat for Bennett, who managed to bring around Knesset members like Moti Yogev and Yoni Sitbon to support Rabbi Stav," a source said. "Two weeks ago, this wouldn't have happened."

A senior source in Habayit Hayehudi said, "We realized that the excessive chatter around this issue was wracking our nerves. We had to decide already. Rabbi Stav, from our point of view, is above all the right candidate and also the candidate with the best chances ... Other candidates may still pop up, but this is our candidate, and we will do everything we can to promote him."

The Tzohar organization responded in a statement on Sunday, saying that Stav was thankful for the support and promised to continue working for "the entire Israeli public, haredim, religious Zionists and secular -- in order to connect Israeli society to the country's Jewish character and to make real change in the rabbinate's conduct."

Education Minister Shay Piron (Yesh Atid) congratulated Bennett and his party members for their choice.

At the same time, to improve Stav's chances, the Hatnuah and Yesh Atid parties are trying to pass the so-called Stern law, which calls for the inclusion of women in the body that elects the chief rabbi. This law earlier led to a coalition crisis, with Habayit Hayehudi vetoing the law, and Hatnuah Chairwoman Tzipi Livni in exchange imposing her own veto on a reform of the Religious Services Ministry.

As first reported in Israel Hayom, it looks as though Habayit Hayehudi will revoke its veto. To this end, Knesset members from Habayit Hayehudi, Likud and Hatnuah met on Sunday night in an attempt to reach agreement on the law.

Earlier on Sunday the ministerial committee on legislation approved the so-called Amar law, which would allow a presiding chief rabbi, like Rabbi Shlomo Amar, to run for a second term after his current term ends. Six ministers, including the ministers of Habayit Hayehudi, supported the law. In response, Shas said that it "opposes any deal," and that it would work to "torpedo the appointment of Rabbi Stav."

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