Shas chairman Aryeh Deri came to the defense of former Rishon LeTzion Rav Yitzchok Yosef on Sunday after the Movement for Quality Government called on police and prosecutors to consider opening a criminal investigation into remarks the Rav made about Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

The organization’s request followed sharp comments by Rav Yosef over the attorney general’s position regarding government funding for an event commemorating his father, Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef.

Deri directed his response at Elad Ben Gigi of the Movement for Quality Government, saying: “As a member of the Moroccan community, you would have been expected to be among the first to petition against the attorney general, who ordered the cancellation of the memorial gathering for Maran, Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, whom so many members of the Sephardic communities revere and whose legacy they seek to perpetuate.”

Deri accused Ben Gigi of instead “brazenly attacking” Rav Ovadia Yosef’s son and successor.

“How low can you go, trampling your own dignity and the dignity of your community?” Deri said.

The controversy began following Rav Yosef’s weekly shiur, during which he sharply criticized the attorney general’s position regarding funding for the memorial event honoring his father. Rav Yosef characterized the decision as “persecution” and contrasted it with the treatment of memorial rallies for slain Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.

“Rabin was murdered close to elections, and they don’t prohibit events for him. It belongs to the left, so it’s perfectly fine for them to hold a rally. But Maran, the greatest of the generation, who was not a political figure — Maran was a Torah figure,” Rav Yosef said.

Rav Yosef then escalated his criticism of Baharav-Miara, saying: “Don’t listen to her! Who is she anyway? He will give her what she deserves. She’s messing with Maran? This will not pass quietly.”

Following those remarks, the Movement for Quality Government contacted law enforcement authorities, arguing that the statements, in its view, could raise concerns of incitement to violence.

At this stage, however, the organization has only requested that authorities consider opening an investigation. Law enforcement officials have not determined that Rav Yosef committed any offense.

The underlying dispute concerns restrictions that apply during an election period to the government-sponsored event commemorating Rav Ovadia Yosef. Officials at the Religious Services Ministry have also criticized the legal position, arguing that the state is required by law to hold an official event commemorating Rav Ovadia Yosef’s legacy.

The ministry’s director general similarly compared the dispute to state-sponsored commemorations of Yitzchak Rabin, arguing that the two memorial events are being treated differently.

Shas has also turned the controversy into an election issue, describing the attorney general’s demand as “a grave affront to Maran’s memory and a blatant trampling of the law.”

“This is what the election is about,” Deri declared. “Either the rule of the attorney general, who is trying to erase every trace of Torah and Judaism, or the legacy of Maran, of blessed memory, and Jewish tradition. There is no third way.”

{Matzav.com}