Torah Students, Not Army, Saved Israel From Iranian Missiles: Chief Rabbi

Torah students, not the army, have saved Israel from Iranian missiles, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has said.

Iran launched a barrage of rockets and missiles on Israel on April 13, in what Tehran said was in response to the April 1 attack on its consulate in Syria in which seven military advisers were killed.

Israel responded to the Iranian attack a week later by carrying out a drone strike on a military base in the central city of Isfahan, which the Iranian authorities claimed to have thwarted. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Thirteen thousand missiles were lobbed at our country; thank God for the miracles and wonders we had. Thanks to what? Thanks to the IDF Chief of Staff? Thanks to whom? Thanks to the Torah students and yeshiva students, who sit and learn the Torah," Yosef said in a sermon late Saturday.

He said Israelis were saved from attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, "only thanks to the members of the yeshivas and their students.

"They protect all the soldiers and all the nation of Israel," he added.

Last month, Yosef caused a controversy when he said that ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, will leave the country if they are forced to serve in the army.

Most Jewish men in Israel are required to serve nearly three years in the military, followed by years of reserve duty. Jewish women serve two mandatory years.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up roughly 13% of Israeli society, have traditionally received exemptions while studying full time in religious seminaries.

Last month, Israel's Supreme Court ordered an end to government subsidies to schools for ultra-Orthodox men eligible for army enlistment. The court gave the government until June 30 to pass a new plan for their army enlistment.

Israel's ongoing war on the Gaza Strip has ignited a debate on the enlistment of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the military.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 34,400 Palestinians have since been killed and thousands of others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities. Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Writing by Ikram Kouachi -