List of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of Israel

This list of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of Israel documents the rabbis who served as the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community in the Land of Israel from the mid-17th century to present. The Hebrew title for the position, Rishon LeZion (literally "First to Zion"), has been used since the beginning of the 17th century, and is sourced from a verse in Isaiah 41:27. Between 1842 and 1920 the position of Hakham Bashi of the Vilayet of Damascus was officially recognised by the Ottoman and British governments. As of 2026, David Yosef is the current Chief Rabbi.

+List of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of IsraelNameImageTermBirthplaceMoshe ben Yonatan Galante1665–1689SafedMoshe ibn Habib1689–1696SalonikaAvraham Ben David Yitzhaki1709–1729Eliezer Ben Yaakov NachumIstanbulNissim Chaim Moshe Mizrachi 1745–1749JerusalemIsrael Yaakov AlgaziSmyrnaRaphael Shmuel Meyuchas1756–1771JerusalemChaim Raphael Avraham Ben Asher1771–1772EuropeRaphael Moshe Bula1772–1773SalonikaYom Tov Algazi1773–1802SmyrnaMoshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas1802–1806JerusalemYaakov Moshe Ayash al-Maghrebi1806–1817AlgiersYaakov Koral1817–1818SafedYosef ben Hayyim Hazan1819–1821SmyrnaYom Tov Danon1822–1823SmyrnaShlomo Moses Suzin1824–1836HebronYonah Moshe Navon 1836–1841JerusalemYehuda ben Raphael Navon1841–1842JerusalemChaim Avraham Gagin1842–1848ConstantinopleYitzhak Kovo1848–1854SalonikaChaim Nissim Abulafia1854–1861TiberiasChaim David Hazan1861–1869SmyrnaAvraham Ashkenazi1869–1880SalonikaRaphael Meir Panigel1880–1892PazardzhikYaakov Shaul Elyashar 1893–1906SafedYaakov Meir1906JerusalemEliyahu Moshe Panigel1907JerusalemNachman Batito 1909–1911MarrakeshMoshe Yehuda Franco1911–1915RhodesHaim Moshe Elyashar1914–1915JerusalemNissim Yehuda Danon1915–?JerusalemYaakov Meir1921–1939JerusalemBen-Zion Meir Hai Uziel1939–1954JerusalemYitzhak Nissim1955–1972BaghdadOvadia Yosef1973–1983BaghdadMordechai Eliyahu1983–1993JerusalemEliyahu Bakshi-Doron1993–2003JerusalemShlomo Amar2003–2013CasablancaYitzhak Yosef2013–2024JerusalemDavid Yosef 2024–presentJerusalem

See also Land of Israel Gaonate List of Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel Sephardic Chief Rabbi Official Dress Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Old Yishuv

References