Two days after Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri’s well-publicized resignation from the Knesset on Dec. 30, Yated Ne’eman, the newspaper of the Lithuanian faction of the ultra-Orthodox community, published a rather unconventional headline: “Deep Concern in the Ultra-Orthodox Community: Rabbi Aryeh Deri Resigns from the Knesset.” The article quotes the senior Ashkenazi (of East European origin) ultra-Orthodox politicians, who called on Deri to take back his resignation, claiming that it endangered the ultra-Orthodox community at large. “Our utmost commitment, certainly now, is not only to ensure that ultra-Orthodox representation in the Knesset suffers no harm, but also to strengthen it,” the chairman of Degel HaTorah (one faction out of two composing the Yahadut HaTora Party), Knesset member Moshe Gafni, was quoted as saying in a phone call to Deri. In that same conversation, he asked him not “to take any irrevocable steps.”

According to the same report, Knesset member Yaakov Litzman was also concerned. The piece described how he called on his good friend Aryeh Deri to show responsibility toward the public and forego his intention to resign, “to prevent the entire ship from sinking, God forbid.” The article in Yated Ne’eman was surprising since ultra-Orthodox papers aligned with the Lithuanian faction had until then avoided commenting on the crisis in Shas and Deri’s resignation. Then suddenly, a headline implied support for Deri in his struggle with former Shas head Eli Yishai — a struggle that threatens to splinter Shas.

Ostensibly, the Ashkenazi campaign to bring Deri back is a case of pure pragmatism. The collapse of Shas will cause enormous harm to the size and strength of the ultra-Orthodox bloc in the Knesset, which consists of 18 seats: 11 for Shas and seven for Yahadut HaTorah. Should Shas fall apart, even the most flattering polls give the ultra-Orthodox bloc five fewer seats in the next Knesset. A poll by Israeli daily Haaretz on Jan. 7 gave Shas just six seats, while Yishai’s new Yahad Haam Itanu Party was hovering around the electoral threshold.

Behind this Ashkenazi support for the resigning chairman of Shas are appeals to the leading Lithuanian rabbis by both Deri and his rival Yishai. Deri is trying to win their support, and in so doing, drag them into the internecine struggle within Shas. His goal is quite clear. He wants to turn Yishai into a pariah. He wants to seal his political fate by delegitimizing him. For his part, the passion behind Yishai’s fighting spirit is coming as a surprise to everyone. He doesn’t look like someone who will be raising the white flag of surrender anytime soon.