Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on Sunday denounced the High Court of Justice's ruling restricting attendance at the Western Wall Plaza for prayer services during Passover.
Yitzhak, who is the spiritual leader of the haredi Shas party, denounced the decision, which was taken on Saturday, calling the judges "heretics... Shabbat desecrators."
"All our troubles in religious matters with the state, including conscription of yeshiva students, are all because of these wicked judges. May [God] destroy and kill them," he stated.
"If they hold a protest in Kaplan [Tel Aviv] with 600 people, then they should allow 600 people at the Western Wall. There's a place to immediately enter the [sheltered areas]," he added.
During Passover, the Western Wall usually hosts a priestly blessing ceremony with tens of thousands in attendance. Due to the security guidelines, this has been restricted to a nominal 50 attendees this year, and a requirement to hold the blessing within the Western Wall Tunnels complex rather than the plaza.
The court also ruled to allow protests against the continuation of Operation Roaring Lion and strikes against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, permitting 600 attendees at such protests.
'Violent, extreme, deserves condemnation': Kariv, Eisenkot denounce Yitzhak Yosef's statements
MK Gilad Kariv denounced Yosef's statements, calling him a "violent and extreme person, whose extensive knowledge of Torah does not hide his coarseness."
"His words constitute bloodletting and incitement, and no eye rolls will help him when one of his foolish followers harms a judge," Kariv added.
Gadi Eisenkot also condemned Yosef's statements, calling it a "severe, harsh, and personal attack" which is a "stain that deserves condemnation."
Current Sephardi Chief Rabbi, and Yitzhak Yosef's younger brother, David Yosef, also reacted to the court ruling, criticizing the judges.
"This is an illegal act in the Jewish state. These judges sit on Shabbat and force the state to respond in violation of the law. There is not a single religious Jew today who trusts this impudent group. They are reckless and trample on the holy Torah. We will fight with all our strength for the identity of the state, and in the end, Judaism will prevail," he said.
"The judges behave recklessly with everything related to Jewish tradition. As far as Israel's religion is concerned, they trample on the religion and have no sensitivity to the religious public," he continued.
"There is the IDF's Home Front Command, which has discretion and needs to consider dangers, but above it, it seems, there are those who think they understand better - the court judges. They sit, trample the law, and make a decision on Shabbat to force the state to allow protests," he added.
"I don't think the value of the [anti-war] protests to them is more important than the sanctity of the Western Wall. Since the war began, we have been following orders... we understand the situation," he stated.