Reconciliation in exchange for a draft law? Deri launched the Shas election campaign
The party chairman opened the election campaign at a closed-to-the-press event in Holon and dodged questions. The event took place hours after he reached an agreement with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef that the next government would pass an exemption from military service. The move is intended to stop the party's decline in the polls against the backdrop of a crisis of confidence with the Sephardic public.
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri launched the party's election campaign today, Thursday, at a closed activists' meeting in Holon. The event was held under security and after Deri reached agreements with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on promoting a draft exemption law in the next government, with the goal of restoring the movement's electoral power.
The Shas election campaign got underway at an activists' conference held in Holon with the participation of party representatives from local councils across the country. The event was defined as closed to journalists and was secured by an external security company. Party chairman Aryeh Deri chose to enter the complex through a side entrance to avoid meeting with the media. To a question from the "Hayom" correspondent at the scene, Deri refused to respond.
The conference was held in the shadow of a reconciliation reached this morning between Deri and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, a step that the Shas chairman invested many efforts to promote before launching the campaign. According to sources familiar with the details, the two formulated a closed agreement that regulates the party's future path. The understandings include a commitment that a draft exemption law will be promoted in the next government.
In parallel, it was agreed that the Council of Torah Sages would be a full partner in political decisions. The elder of the Council, Rabbi Maya, will decide on political issues, while Rabbi Yosef will rule on halachic matters. In a letter sent today by Rabbi Maya, he gave backing to Deri and asked Rabbi Yosef to guide the movement's representatives as his father's successor.
The rapprochement between the sides comes after a period of internal tension at the top of the Sephardic leadership. An open rift was recorded just last week when Deri and Rabbi Yosef were on vacation in Austria. The Shas chairman sent the Rishon LeZion a tray of fruit as a public gesture, but the Rabbi refused to accept the delivery and asked to return it. Rabbi Yosef's associates recently rejected reports that attributed to him support for a left-wing government, and explained that it was a media spin intended to exert political pressure on him to grant public support to the party.
The renewed alliance is intended to stop the electoral crisis that Shas is experiencing. Recent polls predict the party only between six and seven mandates. Each representative will receive a personal target of the number of votes he is required to bring in the election, while the targets of all representatives together are intended to bring Shas to the possibility of 12 mandates.
