Former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef casts vote at Rishon Lezion polling booth

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel who sits on the rabbinical council of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, casts his vote in the central city of Rishon Lezion.

Earlier this year, Yosef made headlines when he said there was “no chance” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would ever repent of his secular lifestyle, but that Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, the opposition frontrunner might. The comments were interpreted to hint at Shas’s shifting political alliances.

In August, he reportedly told students not to vote for Shas and called for the toppling of the right-wing coalition.

And this month, in another challenge for the current coalition’s return and for the far-right Otzma Yehudit, Yosef wrote a letter prohibiting support for the party because Itamar Ben Gvir, its chair, has ascended the Temple Mount.

זריזין מקידימין: מנהיגה הרוחני של ש״ס הראשון לציון רבי יצחק יוסף הצביע כעת כשהוא מלווה ביו״ר ועדת הבריאות ח"כ יוני משריקי pic.twitter.com/5Iw5hgNY1j

— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) October 27, 2026