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Ex-IDF Chief Compares Rabbis to Ayatollahs, Sparks Retaliation
Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz sparked controversy on Sunday, 25 October 2026, after comparing Israeli rabbis to Iranian ayatollahs during a podcast interview. Halutz stated that he saw no difference between the religious leaders of both countries, specifically questioning whether prominent Israeli rabbis, including Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch and rabbis from the Shas party, were superior to their Iranian counterparts.
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What happened
- 01Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz compared Israeli rabbis to Iranian ayatollahs during a podcast interview on Sunday, 25 October 2026.
- 02Halutz specifically questioned the superiority of Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch and Sephardi rabbis from the Shas party.
- 03United Torah Judaism faction chairman MK Yaakov Asher fiercely condemned Halutz's remarks, calling him a pathetic and wretched person.
- 04Asher criticized Halutz by recalling his controversial sale of stock shares just before the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
- 05Asher stated that the baseness of Halutz's actions might not even exist within the headquarters of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
- 06During the podcast, Halutz also described a prime minister as a psychopath who withheld crucial information despite being warned.
Halutz argued that religious leadership in Israel functions similarly to the ayatollahs in Iran, noting that in Iran there is no distinction between Sephardi and Ashkenazi religious leaders. During the same podcast, Halutz also commented on an unspecified event, calling a prime minister a "psychopath" and claiming the leader had been warned about something but failed to act.
United Torah Judaism faction chairman MK Yaakov Asher strongly condemned Halutz's remarks, calling him a "pathetic" and "wretched" person. Asher criticized Halutz's actions during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, alleging that Halutz's primary concern before sending soldiers into battle was calling his bank to sell his stock portfolio. Asher added that such baseness might not even exist within the headquarters of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Summarized by baba from the reports of 4 newsrooms. Updated
Latest report: Israel National News. Read Israel National News’s original
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Ex-IDF Chief Compares Rabbis to Ayatollahs, Sparks Retaliation