Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's caregiver fired
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 1, 2009
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The family of Shas leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who suffers from a heart
condition, fired his caregiver last week after Jerusalem police discovered
that she was romantically involved with a Palestinian with a criminal
record.

The family feared that the woman, a Moldavian national brought to Israel to
care for the octogenarian rabbi, was collaborating with a resident of Beit
Hanina in northeastern Jerusalem to assassinate Yosef, according to a source
close to the family.

The family stepped up security and changed the locks in Yosef's Jerusalem
apartment, the source said.

However, a Jerusalem police spokesman said Sunday that there was no evidence
that either the Moldavian or the Palestinian was planning to harm Yosef.

"The man she was in contact with has a criminal record and has been
implicated in mild security transgressions, but nothing really serious," the
spokesman said.

The woman, who lost her permit to remain in Israel as a result of the
firing, is presently hiding in an attempt to avoid expulsion.

The police spokesman added that knowledge of the romance surfaced after an
investigation, saying that Yosef is one of many Israeli political figures
who receive special security protection.

The Shas leader has made disparaging statements about Arabs, turning him
into a potential terror target.

In April, 2001, he made a comment that was interpreted as advocating the
killing of Arabs. Referring to Hamas rocket attacks on Jewish settlements
near Gaza, he said it was "forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send
missiles to them and annihilate them. The Lord shall reciprocate the Arabs'
deeds, waste their seed and exterminate them, devastate them and cause them
to vanish from the world."

A Shas spokesman later said Yosef had been referring to "Arab murderers and
terrorists," and not to all Arabs.

Nevertheless, the comments enraged Palestinian leaders.

In April, 2005, three Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem belonging to the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were arrested for plotting to
kill Yosef. The PFLP was responsible for the 2001 assassination of tourism
minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

One of the conspirators, Mussa Darwish, 22, a resident of the eastern
Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Isawiya, learned the location of Yosef's home
while working as a delivery man for a local grocery store, and passed on the
information to the PFLP.