Rishon Letzion Harav Yitzhak Yosef Calls Netanyahu an Atheist

Rishon Letzion and Shas leader Harav Yitzchak Yosef sharply criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri on Motzaei Shabbos over the ongoing debate surrounding the draft law.

Speaking at his weekly shiur, which was attended by Harav Yehuda Cohen, a member of the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah, Rav Yosef said: “They should have passed the conscription law before the government was formed, before the first budget. They shouldn’t have listened to Bibi. Why did they listen to him?”

The Former Rishon Letzion said “How can you trust Bibi [Netanyahu]? He’s an atheist.”

Rav Yosef added that had Harav Shalom Cohen still been alive, “he would shout at Shlucha Drabnan – why do you trust Bibi? He is an atheist.” He also asserted that the IDF “arrests mainly Sephardim.”

Before Rav Yosef spoke, Rav Cohen addressed the gathering, linking hostility toward Torah learners with international pressure on Israel. “Now the whole world is against the people of Israel. They want to recognize the Arabs, they want to recognize Hamas. Why is this? How does this happen? I told those who come to me, stop the hatred against Torah students, and the hatred of the nations of the world towards the people of Israel will stop.”