Shas Escalates Attacks on Ben-Gvir Ahead of Elections

With less than three weeks until the elections, the Shas party has intensified its campaign against Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party, positioning Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef at the forefront of the offensive. This move is reportedly driven by concerns that Ben-Gvir is attracting young Sephardic voters and by disagreements over visits to the Temple Mount. Shas strategists planned this sharp escalation for the final weeks of the campaign to maximize its impact.

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has publicly criticized Ben-Gvir for ascending the Temple Mount, deeming it contrary to the rulings of prominent rabbis, including his late father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. "There are people who talk and draw in the youth with all sorts of slogans, but in practice what do they do? Nothing. Just talk talk, and the youth get excited," Rabbi Yosef stated. He recounted warning against Temple Mount visits in his weekly sermon, only for Ben-Gvir to ascend the following day, which he characterized as a defiant act against the opinion of all major rabbis.

Sources close to Rabbi Yosef indicated that Ben-Gvir's Temple Mount visits are seen as a provocation against the legacy of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. A particular concern for Rabbi Yosef is the possibility of Sephardic youth, who were raised on his father's teachings, voting for someone who openly encourages actions that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef prohibited. The rabbi distinguishes between an individual violating a religious prohibition and a public figure encouraging others to do so, especially when it targets young, impressionable voters.

Shas is also competing for secular traditional voters, a demographic Ben-Gvir targets with nationalistic and security messages while criticizing the Haredi leadership. While United Torah Judaism primarily appeals to Haredi voters, Shas relies significantly on traditional voters who are not necessarily committed to a fixed party. Ben-Gvir, in turn, dismisses these attacks as an attempt by Haredi parties to deflect criticism from their own perceived failures and claims his party has advanced issues important to Haredi voters.

The conflict has also extended to the arrests of yeshiva students, with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef accusing Ben-Gvir of responsibility and seeking political gain, accusations Ben-Gvir denies. Shas aims to reassert its role in preserving tradition, with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef emphasizing that Shas is the sole movement capable of safeguarding tradition in Israel, likening it to the mezuzah of the nation, as his father once described it. Shas intends to continue highlighting Rabbi Yosef's statements until election day, planning a series of rabbinical messages for the remaining weeks.