For former Shas leader MK Eli Yishai, who seems to have exiled himself from the party spotlight due to new realities in Shas, the failures of party leader Aryeh Deri serve to improve his status.
While MK Aryeh Deri achieved a victory in the elections for new Chief Rabbis of Israel by having Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef elected, he failed miserably in two battles, Yerushalayim and Elad. The latter is truly astounding when one considers there has never been an Ashkenazi mayor in Elad for the chareidi city is predominately Sephardi. The other loss was in the capital, where Deri placed his cards on Moshe Leon, hoping the Sephardi dati leumi candidate would be frum enough to attract the chareidim while being palatable enough for the non-chareidi voters.
It was Deri who recently stated in a radio interview that it is critical to unseat Mayor Nir Barkat for doing so would give the chareidim negotiating power with Yisrael Beitenu leader MK Avigdor Lieberman towards compelling the latter to assist in breaking the Likud/Bayit Yehudi/Yesh Atid coalition government.
It would appear that Deri has lost his bargaining position for he failed to deliver the goods. Lieberman’s candidate Moshe Leon lost the election, and now the chareidim will have a price to pay – at least those parties that opening endorsed Leon.
The Belzer, Gerre and other admorim in the city opted not to endorse Leon, announcing their chassidim were free to vote their conscience. This sent a message to Barkat, which my work in their favor in the new administration. For Agudas Yisrael, Degel and Shas, the situation is a different one. Even Chaim Epstein of Bnei Torah can smile when he enters City Hall, for HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Auerbach Shlita did not put his cards in Deri’s hands. Bnei Torah did not endorse either mayoral candidate in the race.
Most believe that Yishai will remain silent for the time being and permit Deri to self destruct. Leading political analysts that have been following Shas since its inception feel that without Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L, the party will split ahead of the next Knesset election. This is when one can expect to see Yishai make his comeback, most likely in the form of a new political party for it is clear that he is no longer a welcome guest amid the sons of Maran, their chosen prince, Aryeh Deri and the party’s Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
>> Bnei Torah did not endorse either mayoral candidate in the race.
Of course they didn’t, they were running their own candidate.
You are right, they didn’t publicly endorse any candidate, but that’s not because they had their own guy running, it was because they wanted barkat to win. Veharaya that Chaim Epstein is now getting a very prominent position in the iiriya. That’s because they had a deal that Chaim Epstein would run in order to split the chareidi vote and make barkat win. It’s all politics my friend.
“there has never been an Ashkenazi mayor in Elad for the chareidi city is predominately Sephardi”
WHO CARES! This is one of the sicknesses of the galut that has been handed over to the present times in Eress Yisrael where we aught to be one people. No more “Sefardim vs. Askenasim” mentality. 1 Torah 1 nation, period! All these things of the past and the galut must go! Including the galut mentality. Either you join the future or you stay in the past (and not the past of the Torah, but the past of the galut and the bringing in of these foreign ideas and ideals that aren’t even Jewish)
deri is a ex-con. the sooner he is marginalized, the better for kevod Shamayim.
did you ever wonder why political hacks like gedolim in their ninties?
Your right but it is 2 difrent partis and in politic every city means a lot for the party
We can only hope that Deri continues to self-destruct. He is a menace that would do anything for power, including giving away our land to get back in the government. Then again, we was involved in the Oslo fiasco, so who knows what his agenda is, other than his power.