ovadia yossef

Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef (Wkimeida Commons CC BY SA 3.0)

Shas spiritual leader may have paved way for attack on Iran

Last week, Benjamin Netanyahu sent National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror to the spiritual leader of Shas, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Apparently, this was done to convince the rabbi of the need to attack Iran. According to Haaretz political analyst Yossi Verter, Shas ministers Eli Yishai and Ariel Attias, “both members of the security cabinet, are…

By Ami Kaufman August 26, 2012

State’s attempt to challenge radical rabbis so meek it will backfire

The state’s meek attempt to detain two prominent rabbis who’ve been evading police summons for weeks only underscores how helpless the state has become before the decentralised rabbinical church. This morning, police briefly detained prominent rabbi Yaakov Yossef on suspicion of incitement by virtue of giving his blessing to the notorious King’s Torah tractate, which…

By Dimi Reider July 2, 2011

An act of hactivism: a racist email raises hackles & ends up educating

When racism becomes too ludicrous for comfort About a week ago, the deputy mayor of Carmiel, a man named Oren Milstein, was stupid enough to boast to a Yediot Ahronot reporter that he is operating, along with some shadowy group, a “snitch hotline”, which the good Jewish residents of Carmiel were invited to call and…

By Yossi Gurvitz November 1, 2010

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When the Rabbi said “plague” he meant “peace.” Duh.

I’d like to introduce what I fear will become a regular feature on this blog – the Iraqi Information Minister Award, to be given for worst political spins, as determined by greatest hubris and most brazen contradiction of the facts. Today’s indisputable winner is MK Nissim Ze’ev (Shas), for trying to convince the public a…

By Dimi Reider August 28, 2010