Shlomo Amar

(1948 - )

Rabbi Shlomo Amar was born in Morocco in 1948 and immigrated to Israel in 1962. A close associate of the Shas Party's spiritual leader and former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Amar served as head of the Petah Tikva Rabbinical Court. In March 2002 he was elected chief rabbi of Tel-Aviv, the first sole chief rabbi of the city.

Rabbi Amar was sent by then Interior Minister Eli Yishai to Ethiopia to meet with the Falash Mura community there. He subsequently recommended that they undergo conversion to revert to Judaism.

In 2003 Rabbi Shlomo Amar was appointed Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a position he held until 2013.

Sources: Israeli Foreign Ministry