On Sunday night, former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef voiced his deep concerns to the Gerrer Rebbe regarding the future of Sephardic-haredi youth in Israel's periphery, particularly those vulnerable to military conscription.
"I am especially concerned about the Sephardic yeshiva students from the periphery—those who will likely be targeted first for the draft," Rabbi Yosef said during a celebration marking his grandson's recent wedding.
In their discussion, Rabbi Yosef referenced a historic 1988 letter written by his father, the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, which strongly opposed the enlistment of haredim into the IDF. Alongside this pressing issue, the two leaders delved into various matters of Jewish law, including the permissibility of using security cameras on Shabbat.
This conversation comes in the wake of a controversial decision by Defense Minister Israel Katz to approve 7,000 draft orders for haredim. These orders, a continuation of a policy initiated by former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, will be distributed gradually starting Sunday evening, based on the IDF's directives.
* Arutz 7 contributed to this article.