Former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who is also the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said on Saturday night that he has lost hope in the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ever “repent” — apparently for his perceived refusal to heed core ultra-Orthodox demands related to drafting Haredi men and sanctioning evaders — but expressed hope that the main Netanyahu rival in the upcoming election, Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot, could still do so.

More than an assessment of the religious beliefs of the country’s leader and challenger, the former chief rabbi’s comments appeared to hint at Shas’s shifting political alliances, as the party has grown frustrated with Netanyahu’s inability or unwillingness to deliver on key promises relating to exemptions from military conscription for ultra-Orthodox men.

“Due to our many sins, we are in a secular, non-ultra-Orthodox state,” Yosef bemoaned in his weekly religious sermon. “We pray that everyone repents. There are those who will repent, there are those who won’t.”

“Will Bibi Netanyahu repent? Not a chance. Eisenkot, perhaps he will,” mused Yosef.

The remarks from the Shas spiritual leader came less than a week after the party’s political leaders reportedly refused to pledge loyalty to Netanyahu and any future coalition he may try to form after the upcoming legislative election.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu met with the leaders of Shas and the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party during the week and asked them to promise that they will remain an inseparable part of his right-wing bloc following the election.

Shas party leader Aryeh Deri reportedly told Netanyahu that without the passage of two laws to defend draft........

© The Times of Israel