High Court justices held a hearing on Wednesday morning on the urgent petition filed last week by the Shas movement against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara following her decision to prevent the state-sponsored conference in memory of HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, zt”l.

At the outset of the Supreme Court hearing, the justices noted that the petition had become entirely moot in light of the Religious Services Ministry’s announcement that the event had been canceled. However, Religious Services Ministry Director-General Yehuda Avidan explained to the panel that it would not be possible to hold the event in another two or three weeks and requested that the High Court revoke Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara’s position.

Tensions in the courtroom escalated when attorney Guy Bossi, representing the Shas movement, sharply attacked the conduct of the Attorney General’s office.

“The Attorney General launched a crusade to destroy Maran’s legacy,” he cried. “She did everything she could to put obstacles in the way of holding Maran’s hilula. Her draconian directive, which trampled an explicit Knesset law and prohibited the memorial event from taking place, effectively led to its cancellation. This is deliberate and systematic persecution of the religious public in general and of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, in particular.”

The Attorney General’s representative claimed to the court that the decision did not constitute harm to the honor, legacy or vision of Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef, zt”l and that the entire dispute concerns only a three-week postponement.

At the conclusion of the brief hearing, the justices announced that they were dismissing the petition outright, explaining that it had become theoretical after the event was already canceled.

In its petition, Shas slammed Baharav-Miara’s decision as “selective and political enforcement,” comparing the event honoring HaRav Ovadia Yosef’s legacy with the state memorial events for Yitzchak Rabin, which are scheduled to take place only five days before the elections.

“When one memorial event is postponed because of its political affiliation, while a parallel event scheduled even closer to the elections proceeds as usual, serious concern arises over selective and politically motivated enforcement,” the petition stated.

“The decision harms the feelings of hundreds of thousands of Jews for whom Maran was their rav and guide. Maran cannot be erased, his legacy cannot be diminished, and the love that hundreds of thousands have for him cannot be turned into ‘election propaganda.’ There is a limit to the insensitivity and detachment.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)