Shas party leader Eli Yishai charged Monday that media took out of context comments by the party's spiritual leader and former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. He was quoted as saying in a Torah lesson that it is no wonder that soldiers are killed because they do not observe the Sabbath.

Party chairman Yishai explained that Rabbi Yosef quoted a Talmudic passage that at that period of time, "Holy men who feared the Almighty went into the army...and returned home." Yishai, who is Minister on Industry, Trade and Labor, added that Rabbi Yosef "prays daily for Israeli soldiers' health and safe return home."

Israeli media often quote one or two sentences from Rabbi Yosef's weekly lesson without taking into account a general message that he tries to deliver to his audience. Nevertheless, Meretz Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan demanded that the rabbi apologize to families of fallen soldiers.