The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected a petition by the Shas party seeking to overturn Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s decision to block a state-funded memorial for the party’s late founder, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, which had been scheduled for October 6.

The government had passed legislation providing for state-funded events to commemorate the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party’s spiritual leader, a former chief rabbi of Israel, close to the day of his passing. But the attorney general determined earlier this year that because that date falls within three weeks of the upcoming election, and due to the expected participation of Shas political leaders, the event would turn into a party political event funded by the taxpayer.

The attorney general suggested several alternative arrangements, including holding the memorial without Shas politicians present, but these were rejected, leading the Religious Services Ministry to cancel the event earlier this month.

The Hebrew anniversary of Yosef’s death in 2013 falls this year on October 14, two weeks before the Knesset election.

At the end of a short hearing on Wednesday, High Court judges said that the petition against the attorney general’s decision is moot since the event can no longer be planned in time, and the court will therefore not rule on what it characterized as a theoretical issue.

Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri said in response: “Today, the High Court judges, with callousness and a disconnect from the feelings of large numbers of Jews, are lending a hand to preventing the state commemoration event for [Yosef’s] legacy.

“Neither the High Court nor the attorney general will succeed in stopping the legacy of Maran,” he said, using an honorific for Yosef. “It lives in the hearts of millions and will continue to illuminate generations.”

Earlier this month, Deri posted an AI-generated video on social media showing a........

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