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Yitzhak Yosef

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
August 12, 2026, 10:25 am
Former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef reportedly orders students not to vote for Shas
Religious leader, who sits on the party’s rabbinic council, said to privately call for toppling right-wing coalition, saying Netanyahu and allies ‘hate us, but the left respects us’; he denies the story
By ToI Staff
Minister of Heritage Amichay Eliyahu attends a unity conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 22, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 12, 2026, 4:04 pm
Otzma Yehudit minister suggests far-right party may woo Shas voters
Comments by Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu follow Haredi party’s refusal to pledge support for another Netanyahu-led coalition until draft exemption law is passed
By ToI Staff
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
July 12, 2026, 1:37 am
Top Shas rabbi signals openness to working with Eisenkot rather than Netanyahu after election
PM won’t ever ‘repent,’ but his challenger still may, says Yitzhak Yosef, reflecting party’s shifting alliances as it fumes over coalition’s failure to deliver a law on IDF exemptions for Haredi men
By ToI Staff
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
June 21, 2026, 8:52 am
Top Shas rabbi: US-Iran deal is divine punishment for arrests of Haredi draft dodgers
Ex-Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, known for controversial remarks on matters of religion and state, also says ‘garbage’ attorney general to blame for Trump’s ‘turn against’ Israel
By Sam Sokol
Police clash with Israelis during a protest against the current Israeli government and the ongoing war with Iran, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, April 4, 2026. (Flash90)
April 5, 2026, 2:22 am
Cops violently disperse protesters at Tel Aviv anti-war rally, after court raised attendance cap
Detained activists say police stopped them from reaching shelter amid missile attack; chief rabbi declares court ‘enemy of Judaism’ after permissive ruling is issued on Shabbat
By Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
MK Aryeh Deri attends a Knesset session in Jerusalem on February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 6, 2025, 9:49 pm
Despite apparently backing Bismuth’s draft exemption law, Shas still deeply divided
Senior Shas rabbis complain that chairman Aryeh Deri is weakening their influence in the party as it debates coalition proposal to regulate Haredi enlistment and IDF exemptions
By Sam Sokol
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
October 26, 2025, 11:34 pm
Former chief rabbi calls father of slain soldier a ‘heretic’ for backing Haredi draft
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas party, suggests he wouldn’t count Rabbi Tamir Granot in a prayer quorum, draws broad condemnation
By Rossella Tercatin and ToI Staff
Former Sephardic chief rabbi and Shas spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef arrives at an anti-enlistment conference in Bnei Brak, July 31, 2025. (Daniel Nafusi)
October 24, 2025, 1:49 pm
Top Shas rabbis pan party leader Deri as Haredi draft exemption bill remains elusive
In leaked recordings, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef says Shas should leave coalition, forcing elections; voices distrust of ‘atheist’ Netanyahu, whom he says his father, Ovadia Yosef, disliked
By Michael Horovitz
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 22, 2025, 5:05 pm
Jerusalem man indicted for allegedly asking rabbi’s permission to kill attorney general
Unnamed 36-year-old to remain in custody until Sunday, is charged with making threats against government official
By Charlie Summers
Yeshiva students participate in a prayer service against IDF conscription at Bnei Brak’s Slobodka Yeshiva, August 21, 2025. (Sam Sokol/The Times of Israel)
August 21, 2025, 9:19 pm
‘Studying Torah is what protects us’: Haredi leaders conduct prayers against IDF draft
Rabbi Dov Lando celebrates with draft evader in Bnei Brak; Tzohar’s Rabbi David Stav counters that prayer and fasting against conscription is a ‘despicable disgrace of God’s name’
By Sam Sokol
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 21, 2025, 1:19 am
Former chief rabbi says man asked for his approval to kill AG; police arrest suspect
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef informed authorities that a Jerusalem resident requested he issue a religious decree allowing him to murder Gali Baharav-Miara
By Charlie Summers
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
August 17, 2025, 3:48 am
Ex-chief rabbi pans Haredi leaders for trusting ‘atheist’ Netanyahu on conscription bill
Shas spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef accuses military police of disproportionately targeting Sephardic draft dodgers, repeats threat that Haredi community will leave Israel en masse
By ToI Staff
Rabbis Dov Lando (left) and Moshe Hillel Hirsch (center) attend an anti-enlistment conference organized by the Vaad HaYeshivot (Yeshiva Committee), July 31, 2025. (Shuki Lehrer)
August 1, 2025, 6:28 pm
As IDF plans crackdown on draft dodgers, Haredim roar defiance and prepare for evasion
After army issues over 50,000 new conscription orders, UTJ spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando promises to ‘make the world tremble’ if evaders arrested
By Sam Sokol
Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, right, with UTJ MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
July 18, 2025, 4:14 am
After quitting government, Haredim launch scathing attacks on PM, national religious MKs
‘The ones who are leading the war against Torah students are the religious Zionists,’ says UTJ’s Gafni, arguing it was a mistake to prioritize judicial overhaul over conscription bill
By Sam Sokol
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef delivers a lesson in Safed, on September 17, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
July 8, 2025, 11:08 pm
Shas spiritual leader links death of troops in Gaza to students’ neglect of Torah
United Torah Judaism chairman waits 12 hours to send statement of condolence, fails to acknowledge fallen soldiers are members of ultra-Orthodox battalion
By Sam Sokol
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