19 Facts About Shmuel Eliyahu

Shmuel Eliyahu is the Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council.

Shmuel Eliyahu was born to Mordechai Eliyahu, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and his wife Tzviya.

Shmuel Eliyahu served in an Israel Defense Forces combat unit.

Shmuel Eliyahu received his semikhah at age 23, and at age 29 was appointed to the position of Municipal Rabbi of Shlomi.

In July 2013, Shmuel Eliyahu ran for the position of Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel.

In December 2013, Shmuel Eliyahu petitioned the High Court against the Attorney General for using confidential information that was gathered as part of the failed criminal investigation that Weinstein sent to the election committee in his attempt to prevent Shmuel Eliyahu from running.

In October 2014, Shmuel Eliyahu failed to win election as Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, losing out to Shlomo Amar by a vote of 28 to 18 in the municipality's 48-member electorate.

Shmuel Eliyahu brought the case to the attention of the Israel Police, and in 2018 Sheinberg was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison.

Shmuel Eliyahu convened a beth din in Safed, encouraging Walder's victims to come forward and submit testimony against him, and found him "guilty beyond any doubt".

Shmuel Eliyahu left a suicide note wherein he professed his innocence, beginning it with.

In May 2007, Shmuel Eliyahu advocated "carpet bombing the general area from which the Kassams were launched, regardless of the price in Palestinian life".

In March 2008, Shmuel Eliyahu called for "state-sanctioned revenge" against Arabs.

In 2009, Shmuel Eliyahu was involved in publishing the conspiracy theory pamphlet On Either Side of the Border, in cooperation with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Orbach's conclusion is that Shmuel Eliyahu took part in a forgery, clearly in order to propagate hatred against Arabs and Muslims.

Shmuel Eliyahu failed to answer the accusations, but his spokesman vouched for the authenticity of the pamphlet in a conversation with Haaretz.

Furthermore, Shmuel Eliyahu had widely quoted from the pamphlet in a subsequent article.

In December 2010, Shmuel Eliyahu spearheaded a letter, signed by 50 rabbis, which urged Jewish Israelis to refrain from renting housing to Arabs.

Avraham Stav and Yehuda Gilad declared that Shmuel Eliyahu's statements were not consistent with the teachings of the Torah.

On Jerusalem Day in 2022, Shmuel Eliyahu ordered a large turnout for an annual flag march, saying that anything less would embolden the Palestinians in the wake of a recent spate of attacks against Israelis.