The Sephardic Community Council in Jerusalem had a major role in the country not only in relation with the organization of the local Jews' life in Eretz Israel but also in relation with the ruling authority of the country: the Ottoman ruler till 1917 and the British mandatory government that ended in 1948 with the foundation of the State of Israel.

Its main functions were:

Some explanations about the three titles Chief Rabbis had during the last 350 years:

The Rishon LeTsion literally means "The First in Zion". It derives from from the expression found in the Bible verse: "A harbinger unto Zion will I give…" (Isaie 41:27) . This title was first taken in 1665 by Rabbi Moshe Galante and lasted in 1836.

The Hakham Bashi is the Turkish exact translation of "Chief Rabbi". In 1842 the Turks combined the roles of the Constantinople Hakham Bashi and of the Rishon leTsion, while this last was in fact the representative of the Erets Yisrael Jewish population. That unification happened when R' Yona Moshe Navon was functioning as Rishon LeTzion. In fact this Hebrew title remained in used in the Hebrew language till our days.

The Sephardic Chief Rabbi: The Hakham Bashi title continued to be used under the British Mandate till 1921 when a new body was created "The Chief Rabbinate of Erets Yisrael" in which the function of Rishon LeTzion continued to exist for the Sephardic Chief Rabbi, but to it was added an Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. In the State of Israel, from 1948 and till our days, the Chief Rabbinate of the Country is managed by two Chief Rabbis, one Sephardic and the second Ashkenazi.

Surname	Given Name	Function Period	Country	Title
Galante	Moshe	1665-1689	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Ben Habib	Moshe ben Shlomo	1689-1696	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Yitzhaki	Abraham ben David	1715-1722	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Nahum	Eliezer	1730-1748	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Mizrahi	Haim Moshe	1748-1754	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Algazi	Israel Yaakov	1754-1756	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Meyuhas	Rafael ben Shemuel	1756-1771	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Ben-Asher	Haim Rafael Abraharn	1771-1772	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Algazi	Yom-Tov	1772-1802	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Meyuhas	Moshe Yosef Mordekhai	1802-1806	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Ayash	Yaakov Moshe	1806-1817	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Korah	Yaakov	1817-1819	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Hazan	Rafael Yosef	1819-1822	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Danon	Yom Tov	1822-1824	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Suzin	Shelomo Moshe	1824-1836	Erets Yisrael	Rishon LeTsion
Navon	Yona Moshe	1836-1841	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Navon	Yehuda Rafael	1841-1842	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Gagin	Abraham Haim	1842-1848	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Covo	Yitzhak ben Hizkiya	1848-1854	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Abulafia	Haim Nissim	1854-1861	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Hazan	Haim David	1861-1869	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Ashkenazi	Abrabam	1859-1880	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Panigel	Rafael Meir	1880-1893	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Eliashar	Yaakov Shaul	1893-1914	Erets Yisrael	Hakham Bashi
Eliashar	Haim Moshe	1914-1921	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Meir	Yaakob	1921-1939	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Uziel	Ben-Tsion Hai	1939-1955	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Nissim	Yitzhak	1955-1973	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Yosef	Ovadia	1973-1983	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Eliahu	Mordekhai	1983-1993	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Bakshi Doron	Eliahu	1993- 2003	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi
Amar	Shlomo Moshe	2003-	Erets Yisrael	Sephardic Chief-Rabbi

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