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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 625

Yitzhak Yosef

Rabbi Kalman Ber attends a vote for the new Chief Ashkenazi rabbi, at the Chief Rabbinate headquarters in Jerusalem, October 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 13, 2025, 1:50 pm
Chief rabbis call on public to adhere to IDF guidelines, stay home from synagogues
Shas party’s ruling Council of Torah Sages calls on Israelis to pray and for yeshiva students to increase their Torah study, without specifying if people should adhere to rules
By Rossella Tercatin and Sam Sokol
The scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue that is often attended by Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, June 8, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
June 8, 2025, 1:12 pm
Outrage after arson attack on Jerusalem synagogue of top Shas party rabbi
Some damage to building and prayer books inside, but no injuries at house of worship frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef; Shin Bet said to treat case as terrorism
By Sam Sokol, Charlie Summers and ToI Staff
Left to right: Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Safed on September 17, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90); MK Yuli Edelstein chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, April 23, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
June 5, 2025, 10:00 pm
Shas spiritual leader: Edelstein’s soul is an abomination, shame he came to Israel
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef takes aim at the Likud MK, a former prisoner of Zion, who is blamed for blocking a bill to grant the ultra-Orthodox a blanket exemption from the military draft
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
(L) Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman at the Knesset on May 16, 2022 and (R) Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Jerusalem on September 22, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
May 19, 2025, 11:47 pm
Liberman files police complaint against ex-chief rabbi for encouraging draft dodging
Yisrael Beytenu party head accuses former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and other leading rabbis of violating the law by urging yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders
By Sam Sokol
Then-Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef sells the hametz (leavened food) of the State of Israel ahead of the upcoming Passover holiday, in Jerusalem, April 21, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 14, 2025, 4:33 pm
Ex-chief rabbi: If Haredi draft dodgers arrested, ultra-Orthodox will leave Israel
‘If they come to yeshivas and arrest students… we will all go abroad,’ says Yitzhak Yosef, threatening a mass exodus for the second time
By Sam Sokol
President Isaac Herzog hosts a ceremony marking the completion of a Torah scroll dedicated to Sgt. Segev Schwartz, 20, who was killed in battle on October 7, 2023, ahead of Memorial Day in April 2025. His parents, Sarah and Ehud, are seated to the left and to the right. (Courtesy of Ayelet HaShachar)
April 28, 2025, 7:29 pm
Torah scroll honoring soldier slain on Oct. 7 completed ahead of Memorial Day
Sgt. Segev Schwartz, 20, fell in the battle at the IDF’s Sufa outpost during the Hamas onslaught
By Rossella Tercatin
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman (left) leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 31, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90); Rabbi Dov Lando seen during a meeting to discuss the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews, in Bnei Brak, April 5, 2024. (Shlomi Cohen/Flash90)
April 3, 2025, 12:30 am
With only 2% of Haredim heeding IDF draft orders, Liberman urges action against leaders
Opposition MK accuses senior ultra-Orthodox Rabbis Dov Lando and Yitzhak Yosef of promoting evasion during wartime, a crime punishable by 15 years in prison
By Sam Sokol
Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Safed on September 17, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
December 15, 2024, 1:12 pm
Former chief rabbi says ultra-Orthodox must not serve in army, provoking outrage
Widespread condemnation comes from Prime Minister’s Office, ministers, opposition MKs after Yitzhak Yosef declares that even those not engaged in Torah study should shun the IDF
By ToI Staff
File — Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef sells the hametz (food containing leavening) of the state of Israel before the upcoming Passover holiday in Jerusalem, April 21, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 14, 2024, 11:54 pm
In clips with Arabic subtitles, Jerusalem rabbis condemn Jewish prayer at Temple Mount
After Ben Gvir says it’s ‘policy’ to allow Jewish prayer at contested site, over PM’s denials, spiritual leaders slam ‘radical fringes,’ affirm ruling Jews should stay away entirely
By Canaan Lidor and ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with police during a protest against the drafting of Haredim to the military, on Route 4 outside of Bnei Brak, June 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 18, 2024, 2:23 am
Shas rabbis tell followers to ignore draft orders as IDF preps for Haredi enlistment
In recording, former Sephardic chief rabbi says even ultra-Orthodox ‘deadbeats’ should be exempt from mandatory military service
By ToI Staff
Rabbi Yehuda Deri (R), chief rabbi of the southern city of Beersheba, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on December 12, 2012. (Yoav Ari Dudkevitch / FLASH90)
July 10, 2024, 4:51 pm
Eyebrows raised as son of late Beersheba rabbi is declared his successor at funeral
With no apparent authority to do so, ex-Sephardic chief rabbi announces at cemetery that son of Yehuda Deri will take over his father’s role as southern city’s top rabbinical figure
By ToI Staff
Israel's Ashkenazi former chief rabbi David Lau, right, and Israel's Sephardi former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attend an event at a ceremony in Jerusalem, June 30, 2023. (The Chief Rabbinate of Israel)
July 5, 2024, 9:17 pm
A fight over women’s representation leaves Israel’s Jews without chief rabbis
The Justice Ministry’s demand that the rabbinate consider women for a position traditionally reserved for rabbis is key to the delay in succession for the first time in over a century
By Canaan Lidor
Israel's Ashkenazi former chief rabbi David Lau, right, and Israel's Sephardi former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attend an event at a ceremony in Jerusalem, June 30, 2023. (The Chief Rabbinate of Israel)
July 5, 2024, 4:34 am
Israel’s chief rabbis leave their posts with no successors lined up to replace them
Interim rabbis to fulfill duties after Religious Affairs Ministry fails to set date for elections to replace outgoing rabbis, Ashkenazi David Lau and Sephardi Yitzhak Yosef
By Ben Sales
Then-Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef sells the hametz (leavened food) of the State of Israel ahead of the upcoming Passover holiday, in Jerusalem, April 21, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 30, 2024, 6:59 am
Outgoing chief rabbi says High Court justices ‘can’t hold a candle to our rabbis’
Assailing top court over ultra-Orthodox draft one last time before ending his 11-year tenure, Yitzhak Yosef adds another controversial remark to his résumé
By ToI Staff
Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks as ultra-Orthodox Jewish men celebrate the holiday of Lag B'Omer in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on May 25, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
May 26, 2024, 7:00 am
Barred from Meron, Jewish worshipers mark Lag B’Omer at flashpoint East Jerusalem site
Thousands crowd into venue outside Shimon HaTzadik tomb as police lock down tense Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood; Sephardi chief rabbi lights fire, speaks before enthused audience
By Charlie Summers
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