A prominent Israeli rabbi representing "Sephardi-Oriental" Jews has issued a "death curse" against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. According to the Israeli media, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the ultra-orthodox party Shas, said during a homily late Tuesday that Sharon deserved death for acting "against the Torah and against the people of Israel." "May he be struck and die," the Israeli newspaper Ha'arets on Wednesday quoted Yosef as saying.
In the past the same rabbi called for exterminating the Palestinians, saying they were like rats and dirty animals that ought to be eliminated.
Yosef had also said that Jews who were killed during the holocaust deserved the fate they met because they were not pious enough and adopted the decadent ways of non-Jews.
