Israeli court rejects Shas petition over conference commemorating Ovadia Yosef
In Israel, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by the Shas party, which demanded the reinstatement of a state-funded conference commemorating Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the Ministry of Religious Services said it could no longer hold the event within the planned timeframe.
Conference canceled before hearing
The three-day conference was planned for October 6–8 at the Jerusalem International Convention Center. On Monday, the ministry’s director general, Yehuda Avidan, informed the Jerusalem municipality of its cancellation. He cited the position of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the time needed to prepare the event, and the ongoing court proceedings.
During the hearing, the judges noted that after the conference was canceled, the question of whether it could be held had become theoretical. Avidan asked the court to order the ministry to hold the event despite the attorney general’s position, but the judges declined to do so.
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Dispute over election campaigning
The court did not decide the central issue in the dispute: whether the state could fund the conference several weeks before the October 27 elections without giving an electoral advantage to Shas, the party founded by Yosef. A 2025 law requires the Ministry of Religious Services to hold a conference on the rabbi’s life and work on or around the date of his annual commemoration. This year, the memorial day falls on October 14, less than two weeks before the vote.
The ministry proposed holding the event earlier in October without party symbols or political speeches. At the same time, the attorney general’s office said that the scale and timing of the event would still create a risk of election campaigning, as Yosef’s image and legacy are used in Shas’s campaign. The party disputed this assessment, while a public association that joined the proceedings insisted that the program resembled a large-scale public celebration more than the conference provided for by law.
The ministry’s legal obligation to hold the conference remains. The ministry said it could discuss an alternative event with the municipality, but no new date has been announced yet.
