Former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef forbids followers from voting for Ben Gvir

Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and son of Shas founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, pens a letter prohibiting support for the  far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

Yosef says voting for the party in the October 27 election is forbidden because its chair, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has ascended the Temple Mount.

Ben Gvir and others on the far right have called for the abolition of restrictions on Jewish prayer at the mount, Judaism’s holiest site, which Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuary, and which is administered by an Islamic body.

But Haredi leaders have long said Jews ascending the mount is forbidden because it is a violation of Jewish law.

הרב יצחק יוסף קובע שאסור על פי הלכה להצביע לבן גביר: "התומך במפלגתו של העולה להר הבית הרי זה כאילו הוא עצמו באיסור כרת ח"ו"@MHlpryn pic.twitter.com/Me7S8NKv0c

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) October 18, 2026

“All of the great sages across generations, without exception, forbade this to the utmost extent,” Yosef writes, according to Hebrew media reports. He adds that those who encourage ascending the mount also run afoul of the prohibition, and therefore “it is forbidden according to Jewish law to support this party.”

The letter also comes as Shas and Otzma Yehudit compete for overlapping pools of religious, right-wing voters.