Sephardic chief rabbi renews attack on High Court at Western Wall

Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef doubles down on his criticism against the High Court of Justice, saying Israel’s top tribunal “only understands lawlessness” after it issued an injunction telling police to allow protests to take place and criticizing the lack of enforcement against large religious gatherings.

In a short speech at the end of the Passover priestly blessing at the Western Wall, Yosef endorses Western Wall Heritage Foundation head Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz’s appeal to Home Front Command to reassess the security guidelines for the Jewish holy site, saying the army “understands matters of safety.”

“He didn’t go to the High Court because they understand lawlessness in the name of freedom of protest,” Yosef adds.

“We turn to the professionals who truly understand pikuach nefesh,” Yosef says, referring to the principle of placing safety over religious obligations. “The High Court does not understand pikuach nefesh, the Home Front Command does, and here we declare that the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Chief Rabbis will act according to the instructions of the Home Front Command, because we know what safeguarding every Jewish life means.”

Last night, Yosef called the court “an enemy of Judaism” over its ruling.