The Shas movement filed an urgent petition with the High Court of Justice against Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara’s decision to postpone the state event commemorating the life and legacy of HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, Z’tl.

At the heart of the petition is the commemoration law, under which the Religious Services Ministry is required to hold a conference in HaRav Ovadia Yosef’s memory on Maran Ovadia Yosef Day or close to that date. Shas argues that an obligation established in primary legislation cannot be suspended because of an election campaign, stating: “Elections do not suspend the State of Israel’s law books.”

The petition further argues that the dates chosen for the conference were specifically intended to keep it as far as possible from Election Day, scheduled for October 27. Postponing it until after the elections, it says, would undermine the connection that the legislature sought to establish between the event and the official day of commemoration.

Shas emphasizes in the petition that the Religious Services Ministry and its legal advisers proposed restrictions in advance to eliminate any concern that the conference could become a forum for election propaganda. The proposals included prohibiting political content and speeches by political figures, banning party symbols, requiring advance approval of publicity materials and explicitly instructing speakers not to engage in campaigning.

According to the party, despite these conditions, Baharav-Miara maintained her position that the conference must be postponed until after the elections.

Shas also alleges selective enforcement, comparing the conference honoring HaRav Ovadia Yosef’s legacy with the state memorial events for Yitzchak Rabin, which are scheduled to take place only five days before the elections.

“When one memorial event is postponed because of its political affiliation, while a parallel event scheduled even closer to the elections proceeds as usual, serious concern arises over selective and politically motivated enforcement,” the petition states.

“The decision harms the feelings of hundreds of thousands of Jews for whom Maran was their rav and guide. Maran cannot be erased, his legacy cannot be diminished, and the love that hundreds of thousands have for him cannot be turned into ‘election propaganda.’ There is a limit to the insensitivity and detachment.”

The High Court petition comes after Shas initially attempted to appeal the issue to Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg. That proceeding was summarily dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, but the party emphasizes that Sohlberg did not rule on the substantive issue or determine that the conference constituted election propaganda. Shas is now asking the High Court to intervene in the Attorney General’s decision and allow the state to hold the conference on its originally scheduled date.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)