Amid escalating tensions between the Knesset's haredi factions and the coalition leadership, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, one of the spiritual leaders of Shas, launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein.
Rabbi Yosef did not hold back in his criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling him a "liar" and accusing him of "lying to the public."
"The Prime Minister said that it is possible to enlist in the army as a haredi and remain haredi. Why are you a liar? Why are you lying? It's horrific audacity to lie like that," Rabbi Yosef said, referring to Netanyahu's statement about recruiting haredim into the IDF.
He added that anyone who joins the army "gets corrupted," and that such a statement is false, advising parents to strengthen their children and avoid the harmful influences of the military. "There are many trials; you be strong, and may you have great aspirations to become Torah scholars."
Referring to Yuli Edelstein, Rabbi Yosef was even more blunt: "There’s one whose father converted to Christianity, and he’s a priest - he’s causing all the problems for the yeshiva students. He wears a knitted kippah, and he’s causing all the problems. Your father is a priest, he converted! And now you’re coming to harm the Torah students?"
Rabbi Yosef also slammed the government's actions towards yeshiva students, highlighting measures the government has taken against them, such as fingerprinting in the morning and evening, removal of tax and sevice benefits, and more: "They’re imposing all sorts of decrees, truly disrespecting Torah scholars, insulting the Torah. Who knows what kind of punishment will come? The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not overlook this."