Shas Leader Attacks Attorney General Over Memorial Event

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, launched a scathing verbal attack on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara during his weekly sermon on Saturday. Yosef called Baharav-Miara "wicked" and "crazy," stating, "God will consume her. He will give her the plague. This will not pass in silence."

The outburst followed Baharav-Miara's demand to postpone government memorial events for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the late spiritual leader of Shas and Yosef's father, whose death anniversary falls on October 14, close to the upcoming elections. The Attorney General cited concerns about the potential misuse of state resources for election campaigning.

Shas has been angered by this demand. Rabbi Yosef argued that a memorial for his father, a revered "man of Torah" and not a politician, should proceed as planned, drawing a comparison to the memorial for assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, which he claimed was not postponed despite its proximity to elections. He questioned Baharav-Miara's authority, asking, "Who is she?" and suggesting that "God will consume her" for interfering with the memory of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Yehudit, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's daughter-in-law, also responded, expressing her distress and stating that her father-in-law "belonged to everyone." She recalled his empathy for fallen soldiers and the wounded, emphasizing that while a ceremony might be canceled, a legacy cannot be erased.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri framed the dispute as a central issue in the elections, contrasting the "rule of the Attorney General, who tries to erase every spark of Torah and Judaism" with the "heritage of Maran (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef) and Jewish tradition," asserting there is "no third way."

The Knesset passed a special law last year mandating state institutions to hold an annual commemoration for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. No agreement has been reached between Shas and the Attorney General's office, and the dispute is expected to escalate to legal proceedings.