My conversation with Knesset Member Aryeh Deri, who was handed the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party last May, took place this past Monday, Aug. 5, one day after the government decided to remove two ultra-Orthodox settlements, Beitar Illit and Harish, from the national priority map and include tiny, isolated settlements in Judea and Samaria instead.
Deri was quick to respond sharply on his Twitter account, attacking the two “brothers," Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, the ministers of economy and trade and of finance, respectively. According to Deri, “They will not rest until they oust the ultra-Orthodox citizens of the state of Israel … and grease the palms of those people living in the isolated settlements.”