Aryeh Deri to Shas MKs: “The Protesters Are Only Helping Us”

In an unusual move, the Shas faction convened on Monday at the Knesset rather than at the party’s Har Chotzvim headquarters, where meetings have been held since the beginning of the war. The session, chaired by party leader Aryeh Deri, was called amid recent tensions and incidents involving attacks on chareidi lawmakers.

Deri gathered all Shas Members of Knesset for a briefing following a series of assaults and demonstrations by extremists, including an attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur and protests outside the home of MK Yaakov Asher of Degel HaTorah.

During the closed-door meeting, Deri expressed optimism that the long-debated Giyus Law would soon reach its conclusion. “I hope that today or tomorrow the matter will be finalized, one way or another,” he told his colleagues. “As of yesterday, I was informed that the Litvishe Gedolei Yisroel will rule in favor of the Bismuth proposal. If they indeed decide in favor, an official announcement will be published in Yated Ne’eman,” he said.

Deri further predicted that “Porush and Eichler will join Shas and vote in favor,” signaling growing support for the compromise version of the draft law.

Addressing the ongoing wave of protests and attacks, the Shas chairman suggested that the demonstrations could paradoxically strengthen their cause. “They’re only helping us,” Deri remarked. “The legal advisors now see that the chareidim are paying a heavy price, and that increases the likelihood that the law will pass in the High Court.”

He also strongly condemned the violence targeting public representatives. “We all completely denounce and reject the severe attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur that took place on Motzoei Shabbos,” Deri declared. “When you hear Lieberman today, and the disgraceful way he speaks about those who study Torah in response to the incident, you understand the tremendous chillul Hashem caused by those rioters. The incident itself was a real danger to life and could easily have ended much worse. To our dear friend, Reb Yoav, we say: Chazak ve’ematz, Hashem imcha gibor chayil!”

{Matzav.com}