Haredim Yosef and Lau elected chief rabbis of Israel

Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau defeated Shmuel Eliyahu and David Stav to win ten-year terms as chief rabbis of Israel Wednesday, in a victory for Shas and United Torah Judaism over religious Zionism and Bayit Yehudi.

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Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett called the winners to congratulate them and promised that they would be part of a "revolution" he said Bayit Yehudi was leading in the ministry. In a statement released to the press, Bennett made no mention of his party's support for the losers, but his deputy in the ministry, Eli Ben-Dahan, conceded the race.

"I am sorry we in Bayit Yehudi did not succeed in electing a Zionist chief rabbi," Ben-Dahan said. "I don't hide that our failure hurts. I hope that the secular, who are surely disappointed, will still see the key role of the Chief Rabbinate."

Yosef vowed to be "the chief rabbi for all of Israel, whether they are haredi, religious, or secular." He visited the Western Wall late Wednesday to thank God for his victory.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called both Lau and Yosef to congratulate them following the announcement of the election results, saying that "this is the time to work to unite the people of Israel, and to increase the love of Israel."