Now about three months since the petira of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L, Shas leader Aryeh Deri seems more interested in establishing total control over the party than he is in maintaining a harmonious relationship with Eli Yishai and his camp. The days of the shalom bayis photo ops are a thing of the past and the current party leaders seem determined to establish himself as the one and only leader of the party.
This past motzei Shabbos a birthday party was hosted for Yishai, which doubled as an event for notables to enable Yishai to demonstrate his status in the party. The invited notables did not attend and overall attendance was poor, the daily Maariv reports. Deri was among the invited guests along with other MKs, but they did not attend. In fact, the only notables present were managers of the Shas affiliated Kol Berama radio station.
Yishai supporters blame the organizers for the embarrassment and radio host Moti Lavi added his take, that the invited guests were unwilling to part with 120 NIS a plate as the invitation called for.
Since being ousted as party leader Yishai has been working hard to rehabilitate his situation while attempting to maintain a foothold in the party’s leadership. This effort was backed by Housing Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Uri Ariel. Yishai has been traveling around with Ariel, visiting chareidi housing construction sites with the ministerial entourage. These visits were conducted without Deri’s participation for Deri was not invited and they provided high profile media coverage for Yishai.
However, for Deri the revenge came soon thereafter as Shas and Yahadut Hatorah cancelled their planned participation in an event to address the critical housing shortage in the chareidi community. This was an embarrassment for Ariel, who was compelled to announce the event was canceled. Deri is believed to be the force behind that decision.
Yishai then tried using his position as a member of the vaad that appoints dayanim. He turned to Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef and former Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, explaining future appointments would be made in coordination with Yahadut Hatorah, with him acting as the go-between. This placed him in a position of control regarding new appointments. Once again Deri’s people got wind of what occurred and a short time later Rabbi Bakshi-Doron told Kikar Shabbos that matters pertaining to appointing new dayanim will have to go through Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef exclusively. The Rishon L’Tzion then announced to Mishpacha Magazine that all coordinating must go through Deri and none other, signaling another defeat for Yishai.
It what appears to be a Deri orchestrated media blackout, the Shas affiliated Yom L’Yom newspaper no long shows Yishai’s picture. Needless to say Deri’s picture appears daily. “All the years Deri’s picture was ousted from the newspaper. Now, that he is on the receiving end, there is no reason things should be different” Maariv quotes a ‘Shas official’ as saying.
More recently there was the news that Deri sabotaged Yishai’s appointment as the chairman of the prestigious Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee. Deri aides deny the accuracy of the report but the credible sources seem to speak for themselves.
And the most recent incident, which occurred this week, a WhatsApp announcement that radio host Avi Maimon was critically injured in a vehicular accident. This message went viral rather quickly, and Maimon, a staunch Yishai supporter, received countless messages from concerned colleagues, friends and family members from around the world as the message called on the tzibur to daven for the gravely injured man. Members of the Yishai camp blame Deri for the false message. Police are investigating but it appears they are unable to find the source of the WhatsApp message. There was retaliation, as Yishai supporters are credited with a leaked message of a false report in Yom L’Yom.
For now, Yishai is not coming out publically against Deri but it is a good bet that if he feels he has exhausted all his possibilities in Shas, this will be his next move.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
Beyond personalities, they (like Agudah and Degel ha-Torah) will have have to decide between being frum and being zionist, between whether their children should be soldiers or yeshiva students (and for their constituency, their is clear evidence that chooosing the former usually leads to the invididual “going off the derekh”), whether to follow the legacy of their founder and be the Sefardi Hareidi party or whether to follow their rank and file and become a Sefardi ethnic party that is incidentally Shomer Shabbos.
This is not a Zionist versus nonZionist battle at all.
Differences in the Deri-Yishai battle is Deri is a left winger, ready to band together with Socialist/Left wing/Peace never parties, Power broker, behind the battle negotiator, and personal interpretator of Rav Ovadia Yosef’s shitas.
Yishai is more realistic regarding peace policies, is connected to the Yehuda & Shomron residents (where many of Shas votes are cast), is considered trustworthy and keeps his word, well liked by Shas voters and understood Rav Yosef’s global unifing shitas.
akuperma,
Like many things, you don’t understand Sefardim.
the aka pooka baal teshavuka strikes again with his unrelenting belief in politics
zionflag :
They are both radical left wingers on economics. They make someone such as Obama seem like “tea party.” They are both clearly to the left of Keynes (whereas right-wingers on economics such as Lapid, Bennett and Netanyahu are more in tune with Von Hayek). Indeed, most frum Jews, regardless of any other factors, are left wingers when it comes to economics. It’s our tradition that the rich have a duty to help the poor. When and if national security issues cease to be a factor (i.e. Israel at peace with set borders), most people would then identify hareidi parties as being clearly left wing base on their economic views.
The leaves open national security to debate about. An added wrinkle is that if you want to argue for a belligerent foreign policy, you have a hard time defending yeshiva exemptions (which was certainly the issue Hacham Ovadia Yosef talking about the most at the end) since no one approves of being a “chicken hawk” (pro-war but not for doing the fighting ones’ self).
Shas began as a Sefardi answer to the parties that now form Yahadut ha-Torah. If Shas gives in on conscription of Bnei Yeshiva it ceases to be a frum party (becoming basically a Sefardi answer to Bayit Yehudi), but if they join the hareidi resistance they may alienate many of thei voters.
Deri is in fantasy world until the next election where he will be in for a major surprise. Yishai has good days ahead.
“Shas began as a Sefardi answer to the parties that now form Yahadut ha-Torah. If Shas ….”
Don’t try to box in Sefardim. You are approaching them from an Ashkenazi viewpoint.
#7
Both of you are oversimplifying
but AKuperma is as usual more on target than most
The one point that most commenters are missing is that Chacham Yosef saw Eretz Yisroel e.g. State of Israel as a large Tzibbur….including Tzaddikim, Beinonim and Reishoim…. Yet as a KEHILLA, this is not the view of other Charedi parties that are insular, isolated and self-serving.
“but AKuperma is as usual more on target than most”
So says Akuperma’s other account. Please…
Besides which, did you read what I wrote? I did the exact opposite of oversimplifying. I pointed out that there are nuances the empty-kupper does not know or understand. I am pointing out that there are complexities.