Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef launched a scathing attack Saturday night on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri, accusing them of failing to deliver on coalition promises to pass legislation exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.
“The draft law should have been passed before the first budget, as written in the coalition agreement,” Yosef said, speaking after a week of protests outside a military prison holding ultra-Orthodox men jailed for ignoring enlistment orders.
Yosef accused Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox lawmakers of betraying their commitments. “Why did they listen to Bibi after the budget? If Rabbi Shalom Cohen were alive, he would have shouted at them, ‘Why are you dragging this out? Why are you listening to Bibi? Do you believe him? He’s an atheist!’” he said, referring to the late spiritual leader of the Shas movement, who died in 2022.
“You rely on such a person? You think he will pass the draft law? And so we dragged it out, and now we are entangled,” Yosef added.
The rabbi also criticized the military, alleging discrimination. “They arrest mainly Sephardim. They know the father is weak, the mother is weak. What is this, Russia? When they knock on the door, look through the peephole. If it’s them, don’t open the door. Get through this difficult time,” he said.
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Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrate Thursday outside Prison 10 near Beit Lid, where seven draft dodgers are being held
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
On Thursday, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrated outside Prison 10 near Beit Lid, where seven draft dodgers are being held. Demonstrators shouted the detainees’ names, chanted “We are with you” and carried signs reading “Free the hostages,” bearing the detainees’ names. Others shouted slogans including “All of us to jail with joy,” “The soul cannot be traded,” “Prison, not the army” and “The state will get prisoners, not soldiers.” Protesters also burned and tore up military draft orders.
Rabbis from both the Lithuanian yeshiva community and Hasidic sects led prayer rallies at the site. At one point, a rabbi was heard urging, “Free our hostages.” Following separate gatherings by the Ger and Sanz Hasidic dynasties, additional rallies were held by other Hasidic factions, reflecting internal divisions. In one unusual incident, members of the Jerusalem Faction, a hardline breakaway group, shouted at Lithuanian rabbis leaving the rally: “No to quotas and targets.”
