Through the annual Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony Tuesday evening, a bearded man dressed within the distinctive robes and turban of the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel took his seat subsequent to different viewers members on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl.
One of many torch-lighters, military reservist and rabbinical choose Avraham Zarbiv, gave a speech dedicating the glory to the nation’s rabbinical court docket system.
As he spoke, cameras filming the stay occasion panned to the person within the viewers, with administrators apparently believing it to be Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef.
However the esteemed rabbi was not the truth is within the crowd. In response to his workplace, he skipped the ceremony because of feeling beneath the climate.
The person the cameras landed on was Eyal Tzionov, a TikTok and YouTube micro-celebrity who has sparked confusion in latest weeks after making a number of public appearances within the chief rabbi’s iconic clothes.
Some crowd members have been seen approaching Tzionov through the occasion and entreating him for a blessing, believing he was the 68-year-old esteemed rabbi, who additionally sports activities an extended beard, turban and black gown with gold embroidery.
Amongst these fooled was the husband of Science and Know-how Minister Gila Gamliel.
הפרגוד: בעלה של השרה גילה גמליאל בטוח שהוא מקבל את ברכת הראשון לציון וניגש למתחזה באירוע בהר הרצל. pic.twitter.com/lN5L6d6NkY
— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) April 21, 2026
The eccentric social media star was invited by somebody on the ceremony’s manufacturing staff, in line with the Ynet information outlet.
The Shin Guess careworn to the outlet that Tzionov was vetted like all others when coming in, including that he had been “recognized as an web star, not the chief rabbi, upon his entrance.”
“He underwent a full examine like each different occasion visitor,” the company added, noting that “at no stage did he enter the guarded space the place the prime minister was.”
Tzionov, whose account on TikTok has 2,194 followers, regularly refers to himself because the “Messiah-king” or “Messiah, son of David” in his movies, whereas showing at Jewish holy websites throughout the nation.
His account is called “Minister of Peace, Our Grasp Eyal Tzionov.” His bio merely reads: “Peace and love.”
Tzionov recorded himself ascending and praying on the Temple Mount on April 13 this 12 months, additionally within the chief rabbi’s garb, Ynet stated. The get-up attracted a number of uneasy glances from fellow worshipers.
The ultra-Orthodox are strongly against ascending the flashpoint holy website, which many see as opposite to Jewish non secular legislation.
The report stated safety forces known as Yosef’s workplace after seeing Tzionov on the website, asking why the rabbi would take such a drastic step with out coordinating with them beforehand. However Yosef’s workplace stated he was nowhere within the space.
Tzionov additionally got here to a right-wing demonstration exterior the Excessive Courtroom of Justice in Jerusalem in April, at which protesters railed towards a listening to on petitions demanding the dismissal of Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
He was seen bestowing a blessing upon right-wing provocateur Mordechai David, and chatting with the police spokesman on the scene.
One still photograph uploaded to Tzionov’s TikTok account reveals him being interviewed by a information channel with the caption: “Messiah provides an interview to the media.”
In response to ultra-Orthodox information outlet Kikar HaShabbat, the Chief Rabbinate is struggling to discover a method to take care of Rabbi Yosef’s obvious impersonator, however is skeptical that authorized motion towards him would bear any fruit.
A supply near Tzionov defended him to the Haredi outlet.
“This isn’t an impersonator, and the honorable rabbi doesn’t current himself because the Sephardic chief rabbi or a chief rabbi of Israel,” he asserted, calling Tzionov a “distinguished scholar” with deep Jewish data.
“The honorable rabbi feels holiness and grandeur by carrying the holy gown, and that is his full proper. We apologize if it bothers different rabbis,” the supply added.
