"Not following his path": Rabbi Ovadia's daughters with sharp criticism of Shas - and backing the Attorney General

The daughters of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef spoke out against Shas, defended the Attorney General's decision not to fund the memorial service for their father from the state budget, and claimed that the party does not follow his path. Adina Bar-Shalom and Rivka Chikotai addressed the issue on Sunday on the program of Avri Gilad and Yair Sharki, against the backdrop of the attack on the Attorney General.

"I think that Yitzhak, like many in the public, did not understand the problem," said Bar-Shalom. "She did not say to cancel father's memorial service, she said that they would not fund father's memorial service. There is a big difference, because we in the family hold a memorial service and anyone who wants to can go to a synagogue and hold a memorial service."

Bar-Shalom clarified that the Attorney General did not seek to harm her father's memory, but opposed funding an event that could turn into a political gathering of Shas. "In the end, they will not fund at the state's expense the memorial service that will become an election rally, that is what she said," she explained. Later she added: "She is not dealing with father. She agrees that we will hold rallies and memorial services. The public does not understand."

Chikotai joined the remarks and claimed that it would have been appropriate to transfer the responsibility for the events in memory of Rabbi Ovadia to his family members. "This mistake would have been avoided if Shas had transferred control over the memorial services to someone from the family," she said. "We have rabbis in the family, for those who forgot. Rabbi David Yosef could have invited everyone - his daughters and his sons - and held a state and worthy memorial service, and not an election."

Later, Chikotai sharply criticized the party her father founded: "Father is very loved by the public today. Shas does not follow his path and does not uphold his legacy." Bar-Shalom replied to her words: "Exactly."

Further in the conversation, Chikotai also addressed the experience of visiting her father's grave: "It is a big nightmare, because they put up a partition and the daughters stand far away. When we want to come to light a candle for father, they do not let us pass." When Avri wondered if that was how the house where they grew up was run, she replied: "Absolutely not. We had all the proper respect at home, there was complete equality."