In Short

Shas Spiritual Leader Calls Teachers 'Asses'
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The spiritual leader of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party called Israel's secular teachers "asses."

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef made the comment Saturday as part of his weekly Sabbath address. He said the teachers in the secular schools don't know anything about the Sabbath or Jewish holidays and they teach "nonsense."

Shas is aiming to win 18 seats in the Feb. 10 Knesset elections. Yosef and the party leaders say they want the education portfolio in the new government, so they can add more about Judaism to the curriculum of the secular schools.

It was not the first time Yosef has called secular teachers asses.

Education Minister Yuli Tamir demanded that Yosef apologize publicly for his statement. Many of the major candidates for party leadership or the position of prime minister also condemned the statement.

"Anyone who wants the education portfolio to be in Shas' hands shouldn't vote for me," Kadima Party chairwoman Tzipi Livni said Sunday.

PLO Names Abbas President of Palestine
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The PLO named Mahmoud Abbas the president of the future state of Palestine. In a show of support, the group gave the Palestinian Authority president the symbolic title held by the late Yasser Arafat.

Abbas, the leader of the West Bank, has had frequent clashes with Hamas.

Also Sunday, the Damascus-based exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, verbally attacked Abbas for placing advertisements in Israel's major daily newspapers over the weekend stating that 57 Arab countries would make peace with Israel if it pulled out of the West Bank, Gaza, parts of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

"I do not succumb to the Israeli-American veto. I do what is in the interest of the Palestinian people," Abbas responded to Meshaal's attack, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

Eight Neo-Nazis Sentenced to Prison
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Eight members of a neo-Nazi gang based in central Israel were sentenced to prison.

On Sunday, a Tel Aviv District Court handed down the sentences, the longest of which was seven years. The state prosecutor had signed plea agreements with the cell members, males aged 16 to 21. Four were convicted in April.

The cell members were arrested in September, accused of attacks on drug addicts, homosexuals, religious Jews wearing kipot, and foreign workers, among others.