Rabbi Lau for President?

Jewishtelegraph: We report elsewhere in this edition the intriguing prospect of Israel, for the first time since its establishment, having a rabbinical head of state. The country's former Chief Rabbi Yisroel Lau, currently the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, indicated to the Jewish Telegraph this week that were the circumstances to be right and were the majority of Knesset members to support his nomination, he would in the future accept the presidency of Israel. There will be those who wrongly suggest that this would be a move in the wrong direction for Israel - towards a religious dictatorship. Some Israelis say they fear a situation akin to that in Iran, where ayatollahs have ruled. But those who know Rabbi Lau realise that he is a unique character - an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who is as popular amongst charedim as he is amongst the irreligious and the unidentified. He has the ability to mix at every level, to communicate brilliantly and to mediate in the most difficult situations. Rabbi Lau was at one time the front-runner to be Chief Rabbi of Britain but he chose to remain in Israel, because that was his home and where his heart lay. Some will protest that age is against him, but here is a man who is not only vibrant and in many ways youthful in his outlook, but the perfect figurehead for a Jewish state which often finds it difficult to satisfy the many strands of Judaism which make up its complex tapestry. In 18 months Israel will be set to elect a new President. Need the country look further than Rabbi Lau?