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Israel High Court Rejects Shas Bid to Lift Memorial Ban

By Drooid · Sep 16, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Israel's High Court rejected Shas petition to overturn Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara's block of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef memorial.
Attorney General said the October 6 ceremony fell within three weeks of the October 27 election, risking a political event.
Religious Services Ministry cancelled the three-day conference at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center scheduled for October 6-8.
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri called the judges callous while Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef urged a thousand nationwide memorials.

History

Historical Context

Built between 1950 and 1963, Jerusalem’s International Convention Center—Binyanei Ha’Uma—hosted the 23rd Zionist Congress (1951), Eurovision finals (1979, 1999) and the Jerusalem Book Fair. Its 27 halls seat over 10,000 people, a capacity that later let Shas hold pre-election rallies, which the Israeli High Court barred in 2024 under the same three-week election-period rule used in the early 1990s.

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Story summary

Israel's High Court rejected Shas petition to overturn Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara's block of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef memorial.
Attorney General said the October 6 ceremony fell within three weeks of the October 27 election, risking a political event.
Religious Services Ministry cancelled the three-day conference at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center scheduled for October 6-8.
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri called the judges callous while Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef urged a thousand nationwide memorials.

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