JERUSALEM, Apr 13 (NNN-MA’AN) – A former Israeli chief rabbi has died, after contracting the COVID-19, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said today, Monday.
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron was the country’s highest-profile death from the pandemic.
Bakshi-Doron, 79, who served from 1993 to 2003, as the state’s top chaplain for Sephardim, or Jews of Mena descent, died late on Sunday, to complications from the respiratory virus, in a Jerusalem hospital.
“Tragically, Rabbi Bakshi-Doron contracted the virus and doctors’ efforts to save him did not succeed,” Netanyahu said.
He said, Bakshi-Doron was a warm person and a gifted religious scholar.
“His essence was wisdom, tolerance and love for the people and the country,” Netanyahu said.
In 2017, Bakshi-Doron was fined and sentenced to probation, for his role in a scheme that allowed policemen to receive fraudulent educational credentials for pay raises.
But he remained a popular and respected figure with much of the public.
Israel reported more than 11,000 cases of the virus, and 104 deaths. Its ultra-Orthodox religious community has been hit especially hard.
