Aryeh Deri, chairman of the Shas party, a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) political party in Israel, launched his party's election campaign Thursday evening with sharp criticism of what he described as left-wing interference in Haredi politics. Deri alleged that left-wing organizations are conducting campaigns targeting the ultra-Orthodox community with the cooperation of individuals from within that community itself. Speaking at a party conference, Deri claimed that "people who have betrayed the Torah way, under a Haredi guise, are being used with insane amounts of money." He added that "it's all recruited money, left-wing money, liberal money, and they're activating our own people."
Israel Elections
Deri: Left Funds Haredi Campaign Operatives
Aryeh Deri opens Shas election campaign by claiming left-wing organizations are financing campaigns within the ultra-Orthodox community using Haredi collaborators
Deri also addressed the contentious issue of military conscription legislation for Haredi men and the role of Israel's legal system in blocking such laws. "On one hand they're shouting about the draft evasion law, and on the other hand they're activating people from within our community, unfortunately they're absorbing rabbis, and in the end they succeeded with the judicial system, with the outgoing attorney general, to do everything... and with the legal advisers in the Knesset and government, they activated everyone, and succeeded in torpedoing the law," he said. Deri went on to detail what he described as an ongoing campaign: "Now, you know what they're doing? With their money again, again with collaborators from within our community, they're starting a voter suppression campaign. They're the ones who introduced the claim: 'Why vote for Haredim, your vote is wasted, why bother, nothing will come of it, the judicial system will stop everything anyway.'" The Shas leader emphasized that "of course, under a Haredi cover, in Haredi slang, but the money is the same money." He compared the phenomenon to "Salah Shabbati", a reference to a classic Israeli film about a Yemenite immigrant, "but of high-tech people! They're switching the picture. And all with one goal: they know that thank G-d the Haredi public and the religious public are growing, and they're a very important part of the faith-based bloc in the State of Israel."
Drai opens the campaign| צילום: Shas party spokesperson
