Ovadia Yosef

Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators release hundreds of balloons marking International Women's Day during a protest march against the occupation, Beit Jala, West Bank, March 4, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Want to end the occupation? Start talking to settlers and Mizrahim

The very people the Left categorically rejects — Mizrahim and settlers — are exactly whom they need to make peace. By Avi Dabush Three weeks ago, I attended the Peace Now rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, standing among the “peace camp” and meeting many people whom I love and value. They are committed, devoted,…

By +972 Magazine June 23, 2017

Thousands of Israelis attend a left-wing rally calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, May 27, 2017. (Flash90)

’50 years of occupation is 50 years too many’

As the Right celebrates 50 years of military rule over the Palestinians, the Left must not be afraid to create alliances between struggles and remind Israelis that ending the occupation is everyone’s task. By Eli Bitan The following is the full text of Local Call blogger and editor Eli Bitan’s speech in front of 10,000 left-wing protesters at Saturday’s anti-occupation…

By +972 Magazine May 28, 2017

Yossi Sarid at a Sheikh Jarrah solidarity protest, January 22, 2010. (Photo by Lisa Goldman)

Yossi Sarid: Conservative innovator of the Israeli Left

One of the first Israeli politicians to champion the two-state solution, Yossi Sarid was also one of the last vestiges of the Israeli Left’s old guard. He will be remembered warmly for never turning away a person in need, but also for his contentious attitudes toward religious and Mizrahi Jews. For better or worse, there…

By Dimi Reider December 9, 2015

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Shas MK Aryeh Deri (Photo by Activstills.org)

Can a feminist Mizrahi woman find her political home in Shas?

Although it is run by ultra-Orthodox men and its path for social mobility is anchored in religion, Shas remains the only truly socially minded political party and is certainly the only Mizrahi party. One voter’s search for answers. By Efrat Shani-Shitrit A few weeks ago, flyers targeting the women of north Tel Aviv were posted around…

By Haokets February 7, 2015

Mourners wail at the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, October 7, 2013 (Photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Fifty shades of black: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s funeral

For a secular Jewish woman in Jerusalem, the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef presented an opportunity to cross one of the city’s strongest yet invisible boundaries – entering the bowels of the ultra-Orthodox world. By Michelle Bubis When you belong to the dwindling minority of secular Jewish progressives in Jerusalem, it’s hard to sustain more…

By +972 Magazine October 8, 2013

Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef (Wkimeida Commons CC BY SA 3.0)

Sephardic spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef passes away at 93

Former Sephardic chief rabbi and spiritual leader of Shas was known for efforts to reconcile Jewish law with modernity, advance the status of Mizrahi Jews in the Israeli religious establishment and in Israeli politics and society. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Sephardic-Haredi Shas party passed away Monday at the age of 93.…

By +972 Magazine October 7, 2013

Orthodox Jews (premasagarCC BY NC 2.0)

Why no Israeli government will ever impose mandatory IDF service on the ultra-Orthodox

Compulsory military service for yeshiva students is a popular issue for secular politicians. But Shas and other Orthodox parties will continue to get their way on this issue, partly because of Israel’s fragmented electoral system, but also largely because Zionism depends on the haredim for its raison d’être. By Steven A. Cook Washington — Last week…

By +972 Magazine January 19, 2013