Shas Changed the Rules of the Game: City Rabbis to Serve for Decades
According to the Knesset Research and Information Center, the average tenure of a city rabbi is expected to be 35.2 years. The Shas party is actively pushing for appointments, effectively restoring a 'job for life' model.
The average number of years a city rabbi is expected to serve in his position, from election to retirement, is 35.2. Nine city rabbis are expected to serve more than 50 years, and 29 are expected to serve more than 40 years. The base salary for city rabbis ranges from 23,300 to 45,500 shekels. These figures come from calculations by Calcalist based on a new document from the Knesset Research and Information Center (RIC).
Shas made a significant effort during the last term to pass 'job laws' that would allow the appointment of hundreds of rabbis. After failing, the party changed the selection rules and invested heavily in electing 12 new city rabbis since June 2025. Among them are Aryeh Deri's nephew, Rabbi Avraham Deri (expected tenure: 29 years), the Rabbi of Tel Aviv Zvadia Cohen (12 years), and the Rabbi of Ramle Raphael Abuhatzeira (22 years).
Tenure depends on the date of election. Rabbis elected before 1974 serve until age 80. Those elected between 1974 and 2007 serve until 75, but the Council of the Chief Rabbinate can extend this to 80. Rabbis elected since 2007 are expected to retire at 70, though the Council has the option to extend their tenure until 75.
The State Comptroller has repeatedly warned that the lack of a mechanism for refreshing positions leads to stagnation. In 2022, at the initiative of then-Minister of Religious Services Matan Kahana, the tenure of city rabbis was limited to ten years. However, in 2024, Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) canceled this regulation, restoring the 'job for life' model.
