Shas spiritual leader blasts Aryeh Deri in leaked recording

A leaked recording aired Wednesday on i24NEWS shows an unusually sharp internal rebuke from Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef against party chairman Aryeh Deri. In the audio, Yosef gives full backing to the ultra-Orthodox protests, even though Shas itself chose not to join them.

Yosef said, “We do not trust those who are in politics, their right hand is a fake right hand.” He linked the recent arrests of yeshiva students to what he described as a clear campaign against Torah learners. “Unfortunately they are mainly persecuting Sephardim, there is blatant racism here, they humiliate them,” he said.

He added that it was shameful that such harsh measures against Torah study were being imposed under a right-wing government. The comments come against the backdrop of the draft bill promoted by Shas, which includes set enlistment targets for yeshiva students.

Yosef also reiterated a sweeping prohibition on army service, asking, “How will they go to such a secular army?” The recording highlights a public split between Shas’s political leadership and its spiritual authority over the draft issue and the protests.