Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef issued a sharply worded letter on Sunday night following the violent assault on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur, denouncing what he described as “rioters who cloak themselves in the guise of zealotry” and reaffirming that authority over the Draft Law rests with the committee of yeshiva heads appointed by the Council of Torah Sages.
“I was deeply shocked to hear of the violence carried out against you by those rioters who falsely cloak themselves in the guise of zealotry,” the Chief Rabbi wrote in his letter to Ben-Tzur.
He warned that the attackers are not only seeking “to sow division among Sephardic Torah scholars,” but have “escalated their actions and are now behaving violently toward public representatives.”
Rabbi Yosef stressed that “it is the duty of every individual to condemn these rioters and act in every possible way to ensure they are held fully accountable, so that they cease their harmful conduct.”
The Chief Rabbi also criticized those whom he said have been inciting against public representatives for decades. “Those who initiate incitement by spreading lies and falsehoods are the same people who have been dividing the Haredi public for decades, and who persecuted my late father, of blessed memory, during his lifetime,” he wrote. “It is clear that their intentions are not for the sake of Heaven, and one must distance oneself from them and from their harmful ways.”
Addressing the Draft Law, Rabbi Yosef emphasized that all authority on the matter lies with the designated committee. “Everything is entrusted to the special committee appointed by the Council of Torah Sages, which is carrying out its work faithfully and overseeing all that requires supervision for the safeguarding of the Torah world,” he stated.
Rabbi Yosef concluded with a blessing for Ben-Tzur: “May you merit to enjoy much satisfaction from all your descendants, and succeed in all your endeavors, to magnify and glorify Torah and to increase honor of Heaven.”
MK Ben-Tzur was attacked on Saturday night as he exited the Chief Rabbi’s weekly class at the Yazdim Synagogue, when a group of demonstrators sought to protest the emerging Draft Law. The assault drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leaders.