Israel's Attorney General Allows Ovadia Yosef Memorial Events, Postpones State-Funded Conference

Israel's Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has clarified that there is no directive to cancel or postpone memorial events for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a prominent Sephardic rabbi. The clarification came in a letter from her office to the Director-General of the Ministry of Religious Services, Yehuda Avidan, stating that memorial services and state ceremonies honoring Rabbi Yosef are permitted.

However, a specific "academic and experiential conference" that the Ministry of Religious Services sought to hold with government funding before the upcoming elections has been postponed until after the elections. The Attorney General's office deemed this particular event, which includes interactive exhibits and was expected to receive significant media coverage, inappropriate to hold so close to an election due to its state funding. The conference is mandated by law to commemorate Rabbi Yosef and is scheduled to take place in 2025, but the ministry had requested to hold it on October 6, 7, or 8, 2026, just weeks before the general elections on October 27, 2026.

The Attorney General's office stated that holding the conference after the elections would still be considered "a date close" to the anniversary of Rabbi Yosef's passing, as per the law, thereby balancing the need for commemoration with the requirement to ensure fair elections. The office rejected claims that the decision was intended to disrespect Rabbi Yosef, calling them "baseless."

The clarification follows sharp criticism from the Sephardic public and the Shas party, who had interpreted earlier reports as a cancellation of all memorial events. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi, had publicly condemned the alleged decision and called for non-compliance. The Attorney General's office emphasized that any non-governmental memorial events can proceed without restriction, even before the elections.

Shas responded by calling the decision "defiant" and a "severe blow" to religious tradition, vowing to petition the Central Elections Committee against what they termed an "arbitrary decision."