“They fall under the category of apikores [heretics]. Not all of them.”
Yosef was previously the subject of controversy for suggesting that the deaths of five IDF soldiers in July were linked to a general “neglect” of Torah study.
The men were all from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, one of the army’s first Charedi units, and were killed when an explosive device was detonated near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
Mourning the “dear soldiers” in an open letter, Yosef wrote: “We are to blame.
“Weakness in Torah study leads to disasters, such as the terrible tragedy of the soldiers’ deaths in battle.”
The issue of Charedi conscription has proved bitterly divisive and politically challenging in Israel, with Shas, one of two major Charedi parties in the Knesset, resigning its MKs from all their ministerial roles in protest at the government trying to force through the measure.
Unlike the United Torah Judaism faction, which quit the coalition in July, Shas remains part of the government, but its withdrawal, should it happen, would force Prime Minister Netanyahu into minority government.