Yitzhak Yosef

Why Gadi Eisenkot is rejecting the haredi political embrace that once helped Netanyahu win

POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Yitzhak Yosef’s embrace – and Eisenkot's effort to distance himself from it – reflects Israel's shifting political landscape.

|ByHERB KEINON
Amid reports that the Shas Party could be willing to sit with him in government, Yashar Party head Gadi Eisenkot did not rule out that option entirely. Here, Eisenkot attends the Sagi Laws for Equality Confrence at the Peres Center in Jaffa earlier this week.
Head of Shas party Aryeh Deri and Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visit at the scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue which is often frequented by Rabbi Yosef, June 8, 2025.

Shas spiritual leader appears to open door to Eisenkot government, says Netanyahu ‘won’t repent’

The rare remarks suggested that Shas could potentially be open to joining a government led by Eisenkot, raising questions over the longstanding haredi alliance with Netanyahu's bloc.

|ByKESHET NEEV
ARYE DERI sits in the Knesset plenum.

Shas spiritual leader orders support for coalition legislation in exchange for haredi-backed bills

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned there was “no room for delay” on the Torah Study Law amid coalition efforts to advance contentious legislation.

|ByKESHET NEEV
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025.

Shas spiritual leader: Iran deal is punishment for draft dodger arrests, A-G is 'wicked woman'

"Trump turned against us because of the decrees being imposed on Torah scholars and because they are being arrested,” Yosef said.

|ByKESHET NEEV

Center Field: Rabbis not supporting the war against Hamas are acting irresponsibly

October 7 confirmed that calling for ceasefires prematurely, as many of these “religious leaders” also did in 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021, is peace-posturing and not peace-seeking. 

MARCH 13, 2024ByGIL TROY
EPHARDI CHIEF Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef was busy insulting more than half of Israel, declaring that when a person eats non-kosher food ‘his brain becomes stupid,’ the writer notes

Israeli government officials slam chief rabbi's threat of haredi exodus

Yair Lapid lambasted the chief rabbi’s remarks on Sunday, stating, “Rabbi Yosef's words are an insult and disgrace to the IDF soldiers who risk their lives to defend the country."

MARCH 10, 2024BySAM HALPERN, ELIAV BREUER
Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks during the funeral procession of Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, a senior judge in the Rabbinical Court, in Jerusalem. Rabbi Wasserman was killed in a terror attack earlier today. November 30, 2023.

Mass exodus threatened by chief rabbi if haredim are forced into military service

"The yeshivas and kollels hold up the world. The state exists on Torah study, and without the Torah, the army would not have succeeded."

MARCH 9, 2024ByYAKI ADAMKER
SEPHARDI CHIEF RABBI Yitzhak Yosef speaks at a Shas Party election rally at the Yazdim Synagogue in Jerusalem last year.

Rabbinate releases instructions for keeping Shabbat during wartime

Some laws can be altered or followed differently due to the principle of "pikuach nefesh," asving a person's life.

OCTOBER 12, 2023ByYUVAL BARNEA
ASHKENAZI CHIEF Rabbi David Lau (left) and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef: The silence of our two chief rabbis is thunderously indicative of the abject state of these once meaningful and relevant positions, the writer argues.

Israel's chief rabbi: Secular Jews have lower intelligence, are jealous of haredim

"They do not find satisfaction in life; everything is driven by the desires of this world," Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said.

OCTOBER 1, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef speaks during a ceremony of the Israeli police for the Jewish new year at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem on September 22, 2022.

Herzog visits sukkot of Chief Rabbis ahead of his own sukkah 'open house'

The President and Chief Rabbis agreed that Sukkot should be a time of peace and understanding • President Herzog's own sukkah will emphasize Israeli sports

OCTOBER 1, 2023ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
President Isaac Herzog speaks with Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in a sukkah, Sunday, October 1, 2023.

Sephardi Chief Rabbi says Ben-Gvir's Temple Mount visits 'cause sin'

The Sephardi chief rabbi has attacked Ben-Gvir for the minister's activism for Temple Mount visits in the past.

JULY 16, 2023ByTZVI JOFFRE
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Temple Mount, May 21, 2023

Israel's chief rabbi elections to be delayed by at least six months - report

Chief rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef were set to end their 10-year terms at the Chief Rabbinate in 2023.

JUNE 2, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
ASHKENAZI CHIEF Rabbi David Lau and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef at an event in Jerusalem earlier this year. Who is lining up to replace them?

Only give funding to places with synagogues - Israeli chief rabbi to new minister

Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef told new Health and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to be subtle about the instruction because it wasn't legal.

APRIL 23, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a rally against Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana conversion and kashrut reforms plan, at the International Convention Center, on February 1, 2022.

Sephardi chief rabbi warns of Israel civil war, calls for peace

The rabbi said that while he does not get involved in politics, he believes that all sides need to come to the table and hold dialogue with each other.

MARCH 19, 2023ByYAKI ADAMKAR/WALLA, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a rally against Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana conversion and kashrut reforms plan, at the International Convention Center, on February 1, 2022.