Some 50 avreichim and roshei kehillos met on motzei Shabbos in Shas leader Aryeh Deri to address matter pertaining to advancing Sephardi Jewry.

Many different aspects of the issue were raised, including discrimination against Sephardim in the mosdos Torah. Some of the planned steps include the opening of a nationwide ombudsman office for Shas constituents, to provide them with a central address to file complaints for party members to address. Deri stressed the importance of improving the connection between voters and elected officials and he feels it is essential to create a mechanism that enables supporters to voice matter of significance as they see it.

In addition Deri hopes the party’s Yom L’Yom newspaper will soon have a midweek edition and from there become a daily newspaper.

Regarding the draft law and the Shaked Committee, Deri stated that while the situation at present is not encouraging, the Shas presence on the committee prevented many additional difficult gezeiros.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)