A request to increase the salary of Israel’s Chief Rabbis by $7000 a month has been lying on the Knesset Monetary Committee’s table for over a year. Rav Shimon Yaakobi, Executive Director of the Rabbinical Courts, submitted the request last year arguing, “The professional experience of the Chief Rabbis is not reflected in the seniority component of their salary, which is significantly lower than that of dayonim in the regional batei din.”
This is because the two Chief Rabbis did not serve as dayonim or as public servants before taking on their present positions. Rav Dovid Lau served as rov of Shoham and Modi’in and Rav Yitzchak Yosef was a Rosh Kollel. They presently receive $15,400 a month before taxes.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}