Rabbi Aryeh Deri is expected to turn to a district court this week to request that the ‘moral turpitude’ stain that accompanied his conviction on fraud and bribery charges be removed to clear his path to run in the upcoming Jerusalem mayoral campaign.
Simultaneously, Deri will be amassing the required number of signatures to submit his name as a candidate in the race.
In all likelihood, the Deri affair will find its way in the Supreme Court, with opponents to his candidacy already announcing they will not hesitate to turn to the nation’s highest court if that is what it will take to prevent him from running.
Some of his opponents explain that while they agree that he has paid his debt to society by serving his prison sentence, they do not wish to see the mayor of the capital being a former convict, stating it is not an appropriate political post for someone with his criminal record.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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7 Responses
Why do we in the Frum community find it acceptable that a man who has committed fraud and bribery should be the mayor of Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh? It is truly a Chilul Hashem of the highest order. Some may wish to explain, justify or otherwise mitigate the offences, but it will only reflect poorly on every Torah Jew no matter what is said.
abcde
You are completely wrong on this one. Your assertions of negative reflections are absurd as well as incorrect, and likely stem from your lack of knowledge regarding the nature of events surrounding his conviction.
I will be extremely proud to have Deri as my mayor.
#1
100% right!!
While he’s at it he should ask the court to remove the stain of blood from his hands due to his involvement in the oslo accords.
All Deri did was spend public money on yeshivos that the hilonim wanted spent on non-Torah studies, and continue a very common “Zevulon-Yisachar” relatoinship that began before he was in politics that left him substantially worse off than the leading secular politicians (Sharon, Olmert, and most others) who live like upper class Americans on Israeli government salaries.
Deri is the best chance for a frum political role other than begging for patronage, and the only hope of a serious “third” way offering an alternative between Post-Zionist surrender, and the “Dati Leumi” policies which guarantee a massive war and will necessitate a unacceptable final solution. The Deri approach is one that might lead to both a Jewish medinah of some sort, and peace.
to #1 and #3.
Hes innocent if you hold jewish law. I tend to listen to gedolei hador over secular courts. I hope you pray for forgiveness this month for having favored a secular verdict over a din torah.
Shame on you
Hopefully, Deri will be successful in having this stain removed from his record. Mind you, he did NOT take any money for himself (ala Olemert). Once Deri does run for Mayor of Yerushalayim, at least there is a chance that a frum person will win. As stated very openly by Rav Elyashev, Agudah and Degel Hatorah are locked in a ridiculous bargain “where no one wins” gabs911
If anyone should pray for forgiveness, it is those leaders of Agudah who choose, when convenient, to ignore the advice of Gedolim.