At noon on Monday, Oct. 28 — shortly before the conference at Shas headquarters in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Hotzvim, filled with members of the party’s Knesset faction — some unknown person hung a photo on the wall showing Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri at a time when they were especially close. In an unusual move, Deri decided to hold Shas’ weekly meeting in its offices in Har Hotzvim, instead of at the Knesset. Within Shas, the decision was interpreted as an attempt by Deri to avoid contact with the media, just one week after his resounding failure in the local elections.
The mood in that crowded room was unsettled and tense. Some members of the party’s Knesset faction snickered when they noticed the lone photograph adorning the room’s stark white walls. The photo wasn’t there before, and it had obviously been put up hastily upon orders from above, not only to clarify who the real boss of the party was, but also who appointed him: the late Rabbi Yosef, who passed away this month on Oct. 7.
The overall atmosphere of the meeting was somber. Sitting on either side of Deri were the party’s Knesset faction chairman, Knesset member Ariel Atias, and the deposed party chairman, Knesset member Eli Yishai. Both Yishai and Atias were senior cabinet members in Netanyahu’s government until a few months ago. Now they are Knesset members of a quarrelsome opposition party, the political representatives of a movement which just lost its founder and leader, and is now searching for its way.
Two surprising things have been discovered about Deri over the past month. The first is his crass and obsessive quest for respect and honor. The second, which is even more surprising, is that he is apparently unable to withstand the temptation of the sin of arrogance, which was the main reason he fell from grace in the first iteration of his political career. This is a critical time for Deri. He is trying to reaffirm his leadership as Shas sets off on a new era. But Deri is succumbing to his two main weaknesses and repeating the same mistakes of his past.
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