JERUSALEM (VINnews) – Rabbi Aharon Botbol, a prominent Sephardic Haredi rabbi and son‑in‑law of the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, sharply criticized the Ashkenazi Haredi community during a live broadcast on Kol Barama radio on Monday, calling it racist in the context of matchmaking between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.

Botbol’s comments came in response to a question from a teacher at a religious‑Zionist school, who asked how to explain to her students why intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Sephardim is rare in the Haredi sector.

“What do you want me to sugarcoat? The Ashkenazi public is racist, there’s nothing to do about it,” Botbol said. “Ashkenazim have many good qualities, but in this area, there is a problem.”

הגאון הרב אהרון בוטבול שליט"א: "הציבור האשכנזי גזען, זו האמת לאמיתה. א"א ליפות את המציאות" pic.twitter.com/WrER2b4wAh

— קול ברמה (@KolBarama) February 9, 2026

He praised the religious‑Zionist community and the Chabad movement for bridging ethnic gaps. “The ‘knitted kippah’ community overcame the issue of ethnic divisions, and in Chabad there isn’t much of this kind of racism,” he said.

Botbol concluded with a surprising remark: “The Haredi public has remained like in the days of Antiochus, but the Messiah will fix it when he comes. The Messiah will probably also be Sephardic, by the way.”

Botbol, 66, who serves as a halachic authority, heads the Yevia Omer rabbinical institute and oversees kashrut operations in the Modi’in region. Born in Morocco and based in Jerusalem, he studied at Yeshivat Itri and has become known in the religious‑Zionist and Haredi world for his weekly halacha programs and public lectures. He also broadcasts a halachic Q&A program on Kol Barama radio and has been involved with the Dorot Institute for Jewish law and medicine.