The Haredim have systematically been taking over the Israeli Rabbanut (Chief Rabbinate). Almost all new jobs open, be it in dayanus, mashgiach supervision, Rabbis, etc., have been going to Haredi applicants. This has been happening for a few years now, as the Haredi influence in the Rabbanut sphere has increased.

A prime example of this is how Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger was chosen. While his background is one of having studied in National Religious yeshivot, over the years he has become very close with Rav Elyashiv. His whole candidacy was pushed by Rav Elyashiv and his main contender at the time was Rav Ariel (Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan) who is a major figure in the National Zionist Rabbinate. Rabbi Metzger won the position with the help of Rav Elyashiv's pressure on the system.

The same is happening in many realms within the Rabbinate. The majority of jobs are going to Haredi candidates. They apply for these jobs because they pay decently and there is little else for many of these people to do. They are not trained for work after many years in yeshiva, so they become a mashgiach (for example) after a short course and then get a job in the Rabbanut.

The thing is that most of these people, and the Haredi public in general, do not rely on Rabbanut as a Rabbinic body. They will not rely on it for kashrut, because the Rabbanut uses lighter standards in its kashrut supervision (as it is making kashrut for the masses). They will generally not use the Rabbanut battei din, will not get married under the authority of the Rabbanut, etc., rather are using the services of the various stricter authorities, such as Badat"z and the like.

So they are taking over the Rabbanut but do not trust and use its services.

The National Religious, the natural public who always used the services of the Rabbanut, are starting to move away and form their own organizations. They are disturbed by the apparent takeover by the Haredim. They are disturbed by the changes in policy that make the Rabbanut follow stricter standards, which make it difficult on the general public to follow them.

An example of this is the recent debacle regarding shmitta and the use of the hetter mechira produce. The Rabbanut always allowed the use of Hetter mechira produce, while the haredi public eschewed such produce and during shmitta even stayed away from the Rabbanut more than usual because of it. The claim is that this food is not at all kosher and therefore in such instances the Rabbanut must be completely avoided (not just being lenient and I prefer to be more stringent - in this case it is not kosher at all).

Now that the Rabbanut has become more Haredi, the Rabbanut has decided while it generally accepts hetter mechira produce as kosher, each local authority would have the right to choose and set its own policy regarding hetter mechira. So we have a situation in which Rabbanuts in areas with few religious people who care are rejecting the use of hetter mechira. A result of this is many people in those areas are eating non-kosher. The restaurants refuse to pay the extra expense of non-hetter mechira produce, so they prefer to not get kosher supervision and then they buy whatever they want, unsupervised, and who knows what is happening and what produce, or meats, are being used.

As a result of this, last week we read in the news about a large group of Zionist Rabbis who are leaving the Rabbanut and setting up their own alternative organization to offer kashrut and other services.

Another example of this was announced today. The Rabbanut over the past two years has made conversion requirements much stricter, and has even come to loggerheads with Rabbinic organizations abroad over their standards (such as the RCA) and has even refused to accept conversions performed by them.

A group of 45 Zionist Rabbis has decided to set up their own alternative court for deciding on conversions. They will use more relaxed standards, as they claim that the standards have become increasingly strict and make it very difficult for very many people.

So the Haredim never relied on the Rabbanut and now the Zionist Rabbis are abandoning the Rabbanut.

The general public has always relied on the Rabbanut because they provided the services that were required without making life too difficult for them. The Rabbanut was really there to make kashrut and Judaism available for people who otherwise would likely not bother. The used relaxed standards, but they did so as a way of helping millions of Jews eat kosher food, when they would not if it was too difficult or expensive. They used relaxed standards when it came to everything, because they were dealing with a large public who otherwise would not look for an alternative. The place of the Rabbanut was, and remains, very important for the general public.

The general public however is become increasingly disenfranchised with the Rabbanut. As the haredi Rabbis take over more and more within the Rabbanut and the standards are being raised and made stricter in various aspects, many people are deciding to forgo the whole thing.

An example of this is Hertzliya. Because the local Rabbanut in Hertzliya decided to not accept hetter mechira produce, many stores and restaurants elected to drop their kashrut supervision completely. They prefer to eat non-kosher rather than go through the extra expense of stricter supervision. The job of the Rabbanut was always specifically for these people precisely. It was for those who would otherwise not eat kosher, but now will because the Rabbanut makes it accessible and reasonably priced.

So the Haredi public avoids the Rabbanut, the Zionist public is beginning to abandon the Rabbanut, and the general public is abandoning the Rabbanut.

I have friends in the National Religious community who have told me that this was precisely the goal of the Haredim when taking over the Rabbanut. They say the whole purpose was to destroy the Rabbanut and render it irrelevant.

That is a bit too conspiratorial for me to accept completely, but it might have some truth to it.

The destruction of the Rabbanut is almost complete. Soon there will be serious clashes between the various organizations sprouting up to fill the void the Rabbanut is creating. The confusion will be great, as people will not know what standards the various organizations are adhering to.

This can only be bad for klal yisrael.