Is Rabbi Karim stressing and clarifying his opinions or telling the High Court what the High Court wants to hear? Who knows. The wordings he voiced in the past suggests an ability to be flexible. The Chief Military Rabbinate, after all, is worth a statement or two. Or maybe not.

In any event, Karim is not the problem. The opinions he presented are problematic not because of a radical interpretation of the Halacha. On the contrary, in many aspects Karim presents a “moderate” approach. Unlike some of the Halacha commentators, who see its literal implementation as a religious duty or believe that the circumstances that prevented such a literal implementation have disappeared, Karim acknowledges the world has changed. […]

In a secular state, is it appropriate for people whose world view completely contradicts the state’sto be in positions of power on the state’s behalf? The answer is no. Will the High Court petition against Karim’s appointment do any good? I doubt it. It won’t be easy finding a different Orthodox rabbi with a liberal and egalitarian world viewpoint.

The solution, then, is not finding such a rabbi, but keeping rabbis away from the decision-making process on behalf of the state. The problem, in other words, is not the rabbi. The problem is the Rabbinate.