Mordechai Eliyahu

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu מרדכי צמח אליהו‎
Title	Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, 1983–1993
Personal
Born	Mordechai Eliyahu March 3, 1929 Jerusalem
Died	June 7, 2010(2010-06-07) (aged 81) Jerusalem
Religion	Judaism
Nationality	Israeli
Parent(s)	Salman and Mazal Eliyahu
Denomination	Hardal
Jewish leader
Predecessor	Ovadia Yosef
Successor	Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron

Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu (Hebrew: מרדכי צמח אליהו, March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010, on the Hebrew calendar: 21 Adar I, 5689 - 25 Sivan, 5770),^[1] was an Israeli rabbi, posek, and spiritual leader.

The son of a Jerusalem Kabbalist, in his youth, Eliyahu was active in Brit HaKanaim, a radical religious underground organization. He served as a dayan in Beersheba, and in the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem. He later served as the Rishon LeZion, or Chief Rabbi of Israel, from 1983 to 1993.

As a leader of Religious Zionism, Eliyahu was instrumental in moving many of its members over to the religious right, sparking the beginnings of the Hardal movement. A supporter of Meir Kahane and Jonathan Pollard, Eliyahu expressed his opposition to the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.

Eliyahu died at age 81, after complications from a heart condition. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.