10 Facts About Shlomo Amar

Shlomo Amar served in the position of Rishon LeZion from 2003 to 2013; his Ashkenazi counterpart during his tenure was Yona Metzger.

Shlomo Amar's family immigrated to Israel in 1962 when he was 14.

Shlomo Amar was elected chief rabbi of Tel Aviv in 2002, the first sole Chief Rabbi of the city.

In 2004, Shlomo Amar traveled to Portugal to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Lisbon synagogue Shaare Tikvah.

Rav Shlomo Amar made news in September 2005 when he told a Shinui MK that he was willing to support civil marriages for non-Jews and people who are unaffiliated with a religion.

Shlomo Amar pointed out the difference between his idea and that of his predecessor, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, who had proposed civil marriage for anyone interested in 2004.

In November 2006, Shlomo Amar submitted a draft bill to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that would remove the conversion clause from the Israeli Law of Return.

In October 2014, after Jerusalem had gone 11 years without a chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar was elected as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem alongside Ashkenazi chief rabbi Aryeh Stern.

In 2014 Shlomo Amar met with King Juan Carlos I of Spain and in April 2015 he was invited to meet with King Felipe VI of Spain at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid, Spain to discuss Spanish citizenship for Sephardic Jews.

Shlomo Amar played a major role in comforting French Jews after the Charlie Hebdo shootings of 2015.