Israeli Police Investigate Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi For Fraud As Chief Rabbi Elections Approach

In Israel today, police fraud unit officers raided the home and office of Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger who has been under investigation for fraud, money laundering and accepting bribes. According to YNet News, Metzger (the country's Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi) is suspected of taking for himself hundreds of thousands of shekels he had raised for different NGOs. Metzger was brought in for questioning by police this morning, and a lien was placed on his and his associates' bank accounts. The terms of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis, extended once, now expire on July 24. The Supreme Court has said that elections must be held by then. The contest, particularly for the Ashkenazi position, has become extremely acrimonious. (Jerusalem Post.)