Shmuel Eliyahu

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu
Position	Chief Rabbi of Safed
Other	Chief Rabbinate Council
Personal details
Born	29 November 1956
Denomination	Religious Zionism
Father	Mordechai Eliyahu
Mother	Tzviya
Alma mater	Mercaz HaRav Kook

Shmuel Eliyahu (Hebrew: שמואל אליהו‎‎; b. 29 November 1956 (25 Kislev 5717)) is an Israeli rabbi. He is the Chief Rabbi of Safed, Israel, and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council.

Shmuel Eliyahu was born to his father Mordechai Eliyahu, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and his mother Tzviya. As a boy, he studied at Yeshivat Yerushalayim L’Tzeirim, and later at Mercaz HaRav Kook, where he was a student of Zvi Yehuda Kook. He also served in an Israel Defense Forces combat unit.

Eliyahu received his semikha at age 23, and at age 29 was appointed to the position of Municipal Rabbi of Shlomi. Three years later, he was appointed the Chief Rabbi of Safed.

In July 2013, Eliyahu ran for the position of Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein requested that Eliyahu abandon his candidacy, noting that he had made a number of offensive statements against Arabs. Member of Knesset Issawi Frej submitted an emergency petition to the High Court asking that Eliyahu be disqualified, since "election of a racist like Eliyahu to the position would be the start of the destruction of values in the State of Israel." The High Court rejected the petition based on technicalities. In December 2013, 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 Eliyahu from running.

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