by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) One of the most venerated Sephardic Torah scholars in Israel, Rabbi Meir Mazuz of Bnei Brak, has written a letter to the political leaders of the Shas party, warning them against the mortal dangers to the State of Israel posed by the government of which they are a part.
The sharply worded letter by Rabbi Mazuz, head of the Kisei Rachamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, demands that Shas immediately quit the government.  He also says that the Shas MKs must present to Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef - a former Chief Sephardic Rabbi and the spiritual leader of Shas - the "true and complete data regarding the diplomatic processes the government is weaving, which are damaging to the status of Jerusalem and bring closer the uprooting of the communities of Judea and Samaria."
Olmert and Barak do nothing "except for a targeted killing here and there every two months and then they go on to other things - and you [Shas] remain silent?!"
"We hear daily," Rabbi Mazuz writes, "from reliable sources that construction in Jerusalem has been stopped, and that [the government] has already (secretly) sold to the enemy many communities around Jerusalem.  The situation has become 'Jerusalem is surrounded by enemies (tzarim in Hebrew)' [a reference to the Psalms 125:2 'Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains (harim in Hebrew)].'"
Rabbi Mazuz also makes reference to reliable reports that "the residents of Judea and Samaria are being designated for an expulsion, Heaven forbid, that will be 20 times more horrific than the terrible scenes we saw in Gush Katif - the wounds of which have not yet healed even now.  And atop all this, we have Kassams falling upon our brothers in Sderot day in and day out - as if we are decreed to be destroyed and decimated, Heaven forbid, as in the days of Haman."
The letter acerbically attacks Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak for "not doing anything, except for a targeted killing here and there every two months and then they go on to other things - and you [Shas] remain silent?!"
"Why do you not relay the whole truth to our master the renowned Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, and quit the government immediately?  Get up and take action - and the sooner the better, for our existence depends on it!"
Rabbi Mazuz signs the letter by stating, "I am speaking with all my heart."
In response, Shas spokesman Ro'i Lachmanovitch told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen that Rabbi Yosef has received, and continues to receive, regular diplomatic briefings, and knows the situation well.  "Shas will operate according to the guidelines Rabbi Yosef has set, and the minute negotiations begin regarding Jerusalem, Shas will quit the government, in keeping with the decision by Rabbi Yosef and the [party's] Council of Torah Sages."
Original Source