Shas party leader MK Aryeh Deri launched a blistering and highly unusual public attack on the IDF Chief of Staff, claiming the military leader has "lost it" and accusing him of playing politics during an election cycle.
The fierce criticism from the veteran ultra-Orthodox politician follows a warning letter sent by the Chief of Staff to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In the letter, the military chief warned of severe manpower shortages and opposed the controversial "Arrests Law" - a piece of legislation championed by Deri and Haredi coalition partners to prevent the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.
"He tried to help the left-wing bloc"
Speaking in a combative interview with the Haredi news outlet Kikar HaShabbat, Deri accused the top general of overstepping his bounds to influence the upcoming elections.
"What the Chief of Staff did during an election period, he tried to help the left-wing bloc, unequivocally!" Deri charged. "He is forbidden from engaging in politics. This is a very dangerous precedent. He has caused great damage to the military."
Deri claimed that while he has historically defended the military leader, he can no longer ignore what he views as a partisan shift at the top of the IDF.
"It is extremely grave what the Chief of Staff did," Deri said. "He is a friend of mine, I respect him, and I defend him a lot in discussions where others attack him. But to my great regret, for a long, long time now, I have seen that he has lost it."
Accusations of PR and Silence
Deri went on to accuse the Chief of Staff of being overly focused on his public image while remaining silent during critical policy discussions, only to intervene when it served a political narrative.
The Shas leader pointed out that the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister had previously written to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to advance the law preventing the arrests of draft-exempt ultra-Orthodox Israelis. Deri expressed outrage that the Chief of Staff only chose to intervene publicly now.
"He is busy dealing with the attacks against him and protecting his own reputation," Deri asserted. "It cannot be that the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who knows perfectly well that these arrests will not bring him a single recruit, remains silent for an entire month while the Defense Minister and the Prime Minister write to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to advance this law to prevent arrests, and you don't say a single word."
Political reporter Michael Shemesh explained the real reasons behind Deri's harsh attack on the IDF Chief during a radio interview on Kol BaRama.
According to Shemesh, the attack boils down to two main political pressures:
- Panic Over Dropping Polls: A recent political poll showed the Shas party dropping to just 7 seats in the Knesset. This sudden drop has caused real panic and stress within the ultra-Orthodox party, prompting Deri to go on the offensive to fire up his voters.
- Netanyahu Backed Down: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completely avoided the vote on the controversial "Arrests Law" because of the warning letter sent by the IDF Chief of Staff. Netanyahu simply did not want to get into a public fight with the military chief, which left Deri feeling abandoned.
Shemesh noted that the professional criticism leveled against the Chief of Staff was actually fair, as the military head brought up completely new arguments that had never been brought before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
