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03/26/2006:

"Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: Whoever votes for Kadima will go to hell"

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, was quoted Friday by an ultra-Orthodox weekly paper saying that "whoever votes for Kadima in the upcoming elections will be going backwards, and into hell."

The influential rabbi later told Shas Chairman Eli Yishai that he never made the controversial statement, adding, "Had I wanted to say such things, I wouldn't be ashamed of doing so."

Rabbi Yosef recently said that whomever votes for Shas in next week's general elections is ensured a spot in heaven. In his interview with with the paper, "Hakehila" he stood by this statement. "That is the absolute truth. I'm happy people made a stink about this. I only speak the truth," he said.

A Kadima election campaign spokesman responded saying, "Whoever votes for Kadima is voting for hope and for Sharon's policy, and is ensuring that Israel will be a better place. That is the real Paradise."
haaretz.com