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| Influential Israeli Rabbi Ovadia Yosef dies | Influential Israeli Rabbi Ovadia Yosef dies |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The influential leader of Israel's Sephardic Jewish community, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has died aged 93. | The influential leader of Israel's Sephardic Jewish community, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has died aged 93. |
| Vigils had been held for the past month at a hospital in Jerusalem where he was being treated as his health declined. He will be buried later on Monday. | Vigils had been held for the past month at a hospital in Jerusalem where he was being treated as his health declined. He will be buried later on Monday. |
| He was a revered Talmudic scholar and also the spiritual leader of the Shas (Sephardic Torah Guardians) party. | |
| He set up the party in 1984 to increase representation for Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origin. | |
| Until then, Israel's government and religious institutions had tended to be dominated by Ashkenazi Jews - those of European descent. | |
| Though it is currently in opposition, Shas became a kingmaker in several coalition governments. | |
| Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "great sorrow" at the news of Rabbi Yosef's death, describing him as "one of the most important Jewish law makers of our time". | |
| "He was a giant in his studies of Bible and Jewish law, and a spiritual guide to hundreds of thousands," he said in a statement. | |
| "The Jewish nation has lost one of the wise men of our generation." | |
| The rabbi's son, Yitzhak Yosef, is the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. |