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Deri Ready to Give Facelift To Israeli Shas Party

The old-new chairman of Sephardic Shas Party, Aryeh Deri, plans to rejuvenate its identity as a traditional social party, distancing it from the sectarian tendencies of the ultra-Orthodox.   
Aryeh Deri (C), leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, looks on near the body of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Shas,  before his funeral at a seminary in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who turned an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern heritage into a powerful political force, died on Monday at the age of 93, plunging masses of followers into mourning. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION OBITUARY) - RTX142ZS
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About two years before Knesset member Aryeh Deri returned to the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, he already began speaking openly about starting a new party under his leadership. With his eyes aglitter, he told journalists, politicians and public figures who met with him in his tiny office in Jerusalem about his dream of using the knowledge and experience he accumulated to return to politics and become a unifying figure for the Israeli public.

By that time, Deri made his first moves to take over the leadership of Shas once again. Onlookers would have thought that he didn’t have a chance. Knesset member Eli Yishai’s position as party head and confidant to Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was solid.

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