Former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef said in his weekly shiur that President Donald Trump’s accommodating stance toward Iran is a punishment from Hashem over Israel’s treatment of yeshiva bochurim who have refused IDF conscription.

“The Torah protects us,” Rav Yosef said. “Trump turned against us because of the persecution of yeshiva bochurim by this wicked Izevel,” the Rav, who is the spiritual leader of the Shas party, said.

Rav Yosef’s reference to “Izevel” was directed at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has pressed both the Supreme Court and police to take a harder line against draft refusers and has moved to strip yeshivos of tax benefits, even as secular pacifists who likewise do not enlist have largely avoided similar treatment.

Rav Yosef also criticized police conduct toward chareidi protesters demonstrating against the draft. “Police officers filled with hatred for Torah learners beat and humiliate them,” he said, adding that the hostility is not universal among officers but reflects the influence of “a group of police officers” shaped by the Attorney General’s posture.

Rav Yosef closed his remarks by addressing the broader Jewish people, describing secular Jews as tinokos shenishbu — Jews raised without exposure to Torah knowledge through no fault of their own. “The nation of Israel, in its core, is good,” he said. “The People of Israel, the Nation of Israel, today, in our generation, the vast majority are considered to be as a person raised in captivity among the nations.”