Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz urged the High Court of Justice on Wednesday to reject the petition of Israel's Chief Rabbi Yonah Mezger who said that Mazuz had no right to publicly recommend removing him from office without first granting him a hearing to rebut the allegations against him.
In response to the petition, Mazuz wrote that if Metzger remained in his position it would severely damage public trust and harm both the Chief Rabbinate and the Rabbinic Court.
Mazuz ordered police to investigate Metzger following an investigative report on Channel 2, which charged that the chief rabbi and his family had stayed at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem over Pessah without paying for room and board.
The investigation expanded to include other criminal allegations against Metzger, including that he had stayed at the hotel during other holidays and had signed a rental contract for a home in Jerusalem and made it retroactive.
