Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party Shas, declared during a Saturday evening speech in Rishon Lezion that the emerging US-Iran deal is divine retribution for Israel’s crackdown on haredi draft evaders. He also called Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara a “wicked woman,” accusing her of ordering the enforcement push and, in his telling, provoking a geopolitical chain reaction that turned US President Donald Trump against Israel.
The speech and the deal
Yosef’s central claim is theological in nature: that God is punishing Israel for its treatment of yeshiva students who avoid military service. The mechanism of that punishment, in his framing, is the 14-point memorandum of understanding taking shape between Washington and Tehran, which covers ceasefire provisions, sanctions relief, and nuclear curbs.
The deal has drawn bipartisan criticism inside Israel. Coalition and opposition lawmakers alike have pushed back against the emerging framework. A poll found that 71% of Israelis distrust Trump when it comes to the US-Iran negotiations.
Yosef has a long history of opposing haredi conscription. He has previously warned that enforcing draft requirements against ultra-Orthodox men could lead to mass emigration from Israel.
