Overview
- Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, speaking in his weekly shiur on Sunday, publicly called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a liar, said Netanyahu will not do teshuvah, and praised Gadi Eisenkot as trustworthy while suggesting Shas could back him.
- Yosef’s remarks were delivered as a public religious lecture and a closed conversation published by Israeli media, making them both a spiritual and a political signal from Shas’s senior rabbinic authority.
- There have been no confirmed parliamentary defections or formal shifts in Shas’s alignment yet, and party leaders have not announced any binding move away from the coalition.
- Analysts say the comments modestly raise the odds of government instability or early elections because ultra‑Orthodox parties have repeatedly threatened to withdraw over Netanyahu’s handling of conscription promises.
- The dispute traces back to a 2024 Supreme Court ruling expanding Haredi conscription and ongoing fights over exemption laws and possible penalties for yeshivos, an issue that directly affects young Torah students and could reshape coalition math.