Old Time Religion: Ovadia Yosef on why Israeli soldiers got killed

Headline: Rabbi Yosef: Soldiers killed in war because they didn't observe mitzvot
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Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Saturday that IDF soldiers were killed during the Second Lebanon War because they didn't observe mitzvot (commandments of the Jewish law), Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

In his weekly sermon, delivered just two weeks after Israel marked the war's first anniversary, Shas' spiritual leader said, "It is no wonder that soldiers are killed in war; they don't observe Shabbat, don't observe the Torah, don't pray every day, don't lay phylacteries on a daily basis - so is it any wonder that they are killed? No, it's not.

"God have mercy on them (soldiers) and make them become newly religious - then they will all live a good life in peace," Rabbi Ovadia said.

Rabbi Yosef is absolutely right. None of his Charedim got killed in the war, because none of them were in the army.  In the next war, I propose that we send all the Yeshiva students to the front, so we can test Ovadia Yosef's hypothesis. If he is right, all the observant ones will be saved. Am I cruel? No crueler than those who send our sons to defend them, and then lecture us about who is holier than whom.

 

Ovadia Yosef frequently makes embarrassing and racist remarks about Arabs. When he does, the foreign press picks them up as an example of "Zionist Racism." But Ovadia Yosef is not a Zionist, and his views on all subjects are equally eccentric. When I try to explain this to non-Zionists, they think I am making excuses. I can see their point of view. With a fellow like Ovadia Yosef on board, can we really blame Christiane Amanpour for equating all the different types of religious fanatics?  

 

Ami Isseroff