Rabbi Shimon Baadani, the spiritual leader of the largest ultra-Orthodox Shas party, died Wednesday at the age of 94.
Shas, which holds several key ministerial positions within the new right-wing government, said it was "shocked, pained and devastated over the ascent in a whirlwind to heaven" of Baadani.
The party chairman and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri wrote on Twitter: “Woe is the ship that has lost its captain.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his statement called Baadani a "great scholar and spiritual leader". President Isaac Herzog in turn said on Twitter that his death was a "huge loss to the world of Torah."
Baadani was one of the first rabbis named to the Shas council when it was formed in 1984. Since last August he has been heading the Council of Torah Sages, which is the highest body in Shas.
Israel’s police announced road closures in the central city of Bnei Brak, a center of Haredi Judaism, ahead of his funeral later Wednesday with thousands of mourners expected to attend.