Yona Metzger, whose term as Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel ended in 2013, accepted a plea bargain earlier this week on charges of corruption and is now headed to prison. He stood accused of accepting bribes in exchange for conversions and the pocketing of money meant for charitable purposes; his other alleged crimes include breach of public trust, theft, money-laundering, tax violations, and conspiracy to commit a felony. Marc Angel reflects on the implications:

While Yona Metzger is the first chief rabbi of Israel to be convicted as a criminal, others have had reputations tarnished by unsavory words and deeds. One former Sephardi chief rabbi was accused of granting rabbinic ordination to unqualified individuals in order for them to receive higher pay for their government jobs. Another chief rabbi was engaged in ugly battles for political power. While many of the previous chief rabbis were models of scholarship and piety, others have been petty, vindictive, power-hungry—and now one of them is a convicted criminal.

Is it any surprise that the chief rabbinate of Israel is held in low esteem by the Israeli public and by Jews of the Diaspora? Instead of demonstrating the beauty and wisdom of Torah, [chief rabbis] too often have disappointed the public with their negative qualities. . . .

[D]oes Israel really benefit by maintaining the offices of the chief rabbis? Or does the chief rabbinate represent an outdated, inefficient, and disrespected system? The chief rabbinate has little real natural constituency. Ḥaredim rely on their own rabbis. . . . The non-Orthodox have no use for the chief rabbinate. The religious Zionists—the original constituents of the [institution]—are almost totally disaffected from the current system, unless they themselves hold jobs supplied by the rabbinate itself.

In spite of the massive unpopularity of the chief rabbinate, it wields power in the areas of marriage, divorce, and conversion. It claims power in the area of kosher supervision. It has the power to accept or deny the Jewishness of people who are applying for aliyah. . . . We need to come up with something better, and we need to do so promptly.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.