I'm amazed at your incredibly illogical argument. First you bash the Rabbi for his idiotic speech (and rightfully so, for it was idiotic), but then you immediately conclude your message by stating that Bush should be punised (by G-d, using your logic) for his 'murderous and illegal' war in Iraq. It's as if you dismiss out of hand the possibility of G-d's retribution for the Disengagement, and then quickly state "But if such retribution is possible, Bush certainly deserves if for Iraq." Before you cast stones at the Rabbi, you'd best take a look in the mirror and make sure you don't believe exactly what it is he is saying.

Rabi? Ovadia, please do not talk. People is suffering and you talk like a fool

I have heard the same utter, blasphemous and presumptuous stupidly from well educated (in a secular sense) rabbis. Where do these people get their God licenses? How do they explain deaths of the truly righteous? The good luck of the truly evil? The fact that Moslem extremists have offered somewhat parallel explanations of Katrina makes me feel a bit better since I now know that gross stupidly, lack of scientific understanding and guessing without a clue what God's ways are is not unique to Jews.

thanks for telling me that "I haven't gone far enough' :-) I spend over an hour a day in comtemplation; meditation and/or prayer - take your choice. I would never for a moment attempt to interpret G*d's will. Ovadia Yosef simply wants to take center stage and say, 'see, we told you so" and he has no right to presume to know G*d's will and by doing so he causes international harm to Israel. G*d bless,

It's a shame on us as Israelis to have this crackpot Rabbi speak on our behalf.

I agree with you and the following is a copy of an email that I just sent to the editor of Ynet .. Rabbi: Hurricane punishment for pullout Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef: Hurricane Katrina result of Bush's support for disengagement, failure of New Orleans' black residents to study Torah. 'This is the punishment for what Bush did to Gush Katif,' rabbi says --- why headline this nonsense ? If you check out your 'talkback' you will see that Ovadia Yosef has caused great embarrassment and if your article gets syndicated it can only harm our relationship with the U.S. People will see our religion as primitive and the country in the same way that Arab states are viewed - 'no different to the Muslims'. Publish this gibberish by all means, but discretely, or you are doing our country a disservice. regards, Michael

Be objective, there are many working religious people whose taxes go into things that completely go against the Jewish way of life. Let's prioritize, the worst part of it is not what Rav Ovadia Yosef has said but that the land that jews have sweated to develop for the last 30 years and have sacrificed lives for has been given to our enemies who only promise more terrorism. I can’t help but laugh at some of these talkbacks. So much has been said about ‘sanity’, yet, in their ‘madness’ many have revealed they aren’t too kosher up there themselves.

Everybody has a license to use their head, that's what you were given one for. You make presumptions about G-d too. You obviously presume He plans hurricanes for no good reason. Or worst still, that he doesn't involve himself with the world and these things just happen. As far as your Q about truly righteous people dying, they are often a sacrifice for the masses' sins. Or they are a gilgul (reincarnation) and have completed their mission. Evil people have good luck because they may have done one good deed and they are getting their reward in this world. Righteous people get their reward in the next. It all depends on which world is most important to you. G-d is very fair.

This man could be the poster child for why Israel shouldn't even have Chief Rabbis. The majority of Israelis are secular, so maybe they should "disengage" from the Rabbinate. If Israel ever needed separation of religion and state, the time is now before any more damage is done with these sorts of lunatic pronouncements by a man who probably, long ago, outlived his usefulness.

how can a jew think like that!! ben laden could have thought the same. i wonder if he can be dismissed by one way or another ...is he untouchable? anyway, i hope the ultra-orthodox community doesn't behave like that.

1. President Bush is a non-Jew and yet God metes out punishment to him. This can be intrepreted as meaning that Rabbi Ovadia recognizes him as a human being as well...an important step forward for the rabbi! plus 20 points 2. In calling to African Americans in the Big Easy (New Orleans) to read the Torah the rabbi scores a step forward (he correctly presumes that African Americans can read) plus 20 points but he also scores a step backwards...what about the white residents of the Big Easy? why don't they have to read Torah? are they already wise in Torah? are they illiterate? are they beyond being saved? the rabbi needs to clarify these points. minus 20 points 3. minus 10 points in geography the tsunami occured in an area of planet earth which is not part of the United States. 4. plus 10 points for realizing that God doesn't short change anyone. 5. minus 30 points for speaking on G-d's behalf. overall score: minus 10 The good rabbi needs to remember that this is the month of Elul -- a month for asking forgiveness and repenting away from sins committed against our fellow man. I think the good rabbi should sent a letter of apology to the President of the US and in order to properly apologize to the good people of the Bog Easy he should go to New Orleans and humbly work in one of the relief aid centers. :-) have a nice day!

Global jihad rages across the planet. The domination and subjugation of every non-Muslim on earth is the goal. The Palestinian Authority plan for the genocide of Jews is no secret. Boldly announced in sermon after sermon on PA TV. The following is an excerpt from sermon by Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, May 13 2005 on Palestinian Authority TV (transcribed by Memri TV monitor): "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world - except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule...The day will come when everything will be relieved of the Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew." The United States, EU, UN and Russia's Road Map for an Islamic terror state in Israel enables a second holocaust of the Jewish people

yusuf , inshalla, I hope your the only person who thinks that way... and by the way you are not that white yourself.... in second thoughts you remind me of hitler, though hitler never said he is Jewish, , , I dont think you are Jewish either

It is clear now that those religious extremists whether we are dealing with Islamists, Christians and Jews, they are ALL the same! May the civilized world put an end to those heartless fools and show them real pathetic tiny size and confine them to their places of worship! Religion MUST NOT BE MIXED WITH POLITICS period!

Did R. Yosef call for the indiscriminate killing of innocents? As long has he doesn't make such a call - which he never will - spare us your rediculous comparisons!

Dear Linda you are a one pathetic hate monger! Your hatred of all Arabs and all Muslims is so disgusting and ridiculous! The subject is about this crazy Rabbi and you have not even criticized him for his idiocy yet you took this as an opportunity to spit out your filthy hatred which suggest that you do not disagree with that this Rabbi said! Your kind is a disgrace to the human beings! Shame on you.

Thank you for your comments since they are coming from someone in Israel and for the most part I see from reading most of the postings about this issue that there are quite a few individuals from all parts of the world that read this Internet Publication and respond to it. My post is #4 and I do have quite a bit to say about this person who calls himself a Rabbi. But being a U.S. Citizen and will be married later this year to a Yemenite Israeli, I will say to you that I for one can do without any apology from this person. For someone that is so holy a person to say these things I can only hope that he rots in _ _ _ _(you know where). Like I said in my response, he would fit very well within the Nazi movement that took place in Germany during the 1930's and 40's. I wonder if he has ever been to the Holocost Museum in Israel. I was there this past month and here in the United States there are many historical programs that show the deeds of Nazi Germany and of the camps that murdered so many Jews and others. This guy would in my opinion would have fit right in with those that had perpetrated those crimes on mankind. Diane Sutton United States Citizen and proud of it. And no I'm not Jewish but I do know and have read some of the Torah. This guy should be reading the Koran it's more in his nature to do so.

"...failure of New Orleans black residents to study Tora" This CANNOT be Rav Ovadia's words. Even a 3 years old heder boy knows that non-Jews don't have to learn Tora. To all talkbackers: NEVER BELIEVE YNET ON RELIGIOUS TOPICS , THEIR KNOWLEDGE DOESN'T REACH FIRST CLASS HEDER.

first that idiotic remark about those murdered in hte holocaust and now this. I wonder what he has to say about those murderd by arab terrorists. What did those children playing in parks do? this is more proof that the blind following of rabbis as g-ds are detrimental the judaism and hte chief rabbinate needs a complete overhall. oh, I am religious.

If this is what happened to Bush, what's going to happen to Ariel Sharon and his government?

This is what we all need to be concerned about! The goal of the Palestinian Authority and other terrorist groups is total annihilation of Israel. An Islamic terror state in the Jewish Holy Land enables that goal. See part of article below: To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45917 Tuesday, August 23, 2005 Islamic Jihad says all Palestinians united Leader says total annihilation of Israel joint strategy Posted: August 23, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com In a news conference in Damascus, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad today boasted all Palestinian groups remain united in the goal of annihilating the Jewish state of Israel. With Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia looking on, Ramazan Abdullah, secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said the Palestinian Authority and all Palestinian movements have reached agreement on a joint strategy after Israel's evacuation of the Gaza Strip. "This war would continue till full liberation of Palestine, restoration of the denied rights of the whole Palestinian nation and briefly speaking uprooting of the usurper Israeli regime," he said, according to a translation by the official Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency..."

what abouts rabbi yosefs backhanded support of the disengagement. when he had the chance to stop it he took the money instead. unfortunately his remarks which are totally off base and are a mojor embarrassment will be published and bring a bad feeling to all . and benefit no one .

Let me get this straight. Bush, the President of the US, has been as supportive and friendly to Israel as any previous President. Other countries, including most of the EU, have been enthusiastic supporters of the Palestinians and have criticized Israel for every act of self-defense including taking out terrorist leaders, and building a fence to protect Israeli civilians. In addition, many of the Fundamentalist Christians who live in the New Orleans area are among Israel's most loyal friends. Yet Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of the US because of disengagement. Wow.

Global jihad rages across the planet. The domination and subjugation of every non-Muslim on earth is the goal. for the majority of nations, the "9/11 war" is something they are not involved in.

yes you is

Take this primitive bafoon to the nut house where he belongs He DOES NOT represent Jews or Israelis!! I apologize to the victims of the hurricane for this idiot.

Ovadia is Israel's punishment for being an occupier, and the Jews' punishment for enabling leeches like him to thrive. It's time to cut the financial lifeline to such idiotic movements before more harm is done.

if these should be published is a side story,,, but , lets just take a look at the current events since disengagement started ,,, greek airline crash, amazon junglr crash, boat sinks off peru, hurricane,,plane indonesia,, it is so scary, that this all happen in a 3 week span during the "cleaning out of gush katif" just give it some thought,,,