Chief Sephardi Rabbi Slams Military Arrests of Yeshiva Students

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, sharply condemned last week the military police arrests of yeshiva students and their jailing, saying the operations are targeting Haredi students from Mizrahi backgrounds. He made the comments during an encouragement talk for young yeshiva students.

Yosef said, “We need to know what the value of Torah learners is. I spoke several times about the situation today, that they arrest yeshiva boys, boys aged 17-18, if Maran [Rabbi Ovadia Yosef] were alive, I do not know what he would do. Arrest a Torah student and put him in jail? Maran would not sleep at night if such a thing happened.”

He added that the students are being humiliated and argued that the arrests are not applied equally. “I do not know how this can be, but they arrest only Sephardim,” he said. “With the Ashkenazim they would not dare begin, not Bornstein and not Morgenstern, only with the Sephardim they begin.”

Yosef urged the students to remain strong and quoted, “No weapon formed against you will succeed.” He expressed hope that the current period would pass soon, and recalled that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was deeply pained when a yeshiva student was arrested for studying Torah.