Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has died aged 93, following a three-week long bout of illness.
Rabbi Yosef’s family and close colleagues, including several Shas leaders, had been called to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital this morning after doctors warned that he was about to die.
Shortly before his death, Rabbi Yosef was visited by President Shimon Peres. Mr Peres was understood to have held the rabbi’s hand before saying a prayer outside his room.
Rabbi Yosef will be remembered as one of Israel’s most powerful religious figures, as well as the most important living Halachic authority.
