"Religious Zionists In Israel Are Amalek," Rabbi Cohen of Shas

Rabbi Shalom Cohen, G-D's Spokesman

Shas’s Council of Torah Sages member Rabbi Shalom Cohen in a sermon Saturday made degrading remarks against the religious Zionist sector by questioning their Jewishness and referring to them as “Amalek” - a biblical tribe hostile to the ancient Israelites. Cohen, dean of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, was seen in a video on the haredi website Kikar Hashabat as saying, “the Throne [of God] is not complete as long as there are Amalek, ..when will the Throne be complete? When there are no more [religious Zionists].” Bayit Yehudi Chairman and Religious Services Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday blasted Cohen for his remarks. Bennett called on Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who was seated next to Cohen during the sermon, to condemn the “incitement campaign against the [religious Zionists] before it is too late”. “At this time, thousands of [religious Zionists] can be found from the Syrian border to the Egyptian border, from the highest level of command [in the army] to the last soldier, spilling their blood to defend [the country], and the honor of the rabbi.”