Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, chief rabbi of the Samaria Regional Council in the West Bank, has publicly disagreed with a religious ruling by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner regarding Israel's upcoming elections. In an interview with Channel 2, Rabbi Levanon addressed Rabbi Aviner's call not to vote for the "Amcha Yisrael" party led by retired Brigadier General Ofer Winter, due to the placement of Yosef Haddad, a Christian Arab Israeli activist, in the second position on the party's list.
Rabbi Levanon disputed his colleague's halakhic position, stating: "I am not in favor of voting for small parties, but from a halakhic perspective, it is permitted, and one may vote for Yosef Haddad."
The controversy began when Rabbi Aviner was asked whether Jewish law permits voting for a party whose second candidate is a non-Jew. He responded unequivocally: "Certainly not." While acknowledging that treating a non-Jew positively is permissible, Rabbi Aviner argued that "one cannot give him leadership roles over the nation."
When pressed whether this applies even to a "Righteous Among the Nations", a title given to non-Jews who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Rabbi Aviner maintained his position: "Even a Righteous Among the Nations cannot be a leader in the Land of Israel. He can be a private citizen, but he cannot be a leader."
