Shas Chairman Deri Calls Election Results a Miracle After 'Insane Incitement'
Translated & summarized from Kikar HaShabbat by baba
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri spoke for the first time since the elections, calling the results a "clear miracle" after his party fell to six Knesset seats. He thanked God that 300,000 people supported Shas despite what he termed an "insane incitement campaign" over the past three years. Deri highlighted the movement's internal unity and spiritual leadership as a key achievement amidst political turmoil.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri called election results a "clear miracle" after his party's decline.
- Deri stated 300,000 people supported Shas despite an "insane incitement campaign."
- The Shas faction held a special meeting in Jerusalem following the election results.
- The meeting began with a communal recitation of "Mizmor L'Toda" (A Psalm of Thanksgiving).
- Deri emphasized the movement's internal unity and spiritual leadership as a key achievement.
Aryeh Deri, chairman of the Shas movement, broke his silence on Thursday for the first time since the recent election results, which saw his party drop to six Knesset seats. Speaking at a special faction meeting at the Shas headquarters in Jerusalem, attended by lawmakers and representatives from across the country, Deri addressed the difficult election campaign and what he described as a campaign of pressure and incitement against the movement.
The meeting began with a communal recitation of "Mizmor L'Toda" (A Psalm of Thanksgiving), with all faction members and representatives expressing gratitude for internal unity and public support for the Council of Torah Sages. Deri told attendees, "Thank God, 300,000 people said yes to the call of the Council of Torah Sages and were not tempted by the insane incitement campaign against us in the last three years, from within and without."
Deri described the election results as a "clear miracle," stating, "I have been in these systems for decades, never has there been anything like this. During wartime, they exploited the quiet and responsibility we showed to harm the movement and its leaders. They even tried to split our spiritual leadership. Experts told me they didn't believe it was possible to survive such a campaign. It is truly a miracle, and for that, we must thank God."
He emphasized the achievement of maintaining the movement's ranks and unity, which he called rare in the turbulent political landscape. "Not only did we survive, but we maintained something that hardly exists in any other party: one spiritual leadership, one political leadership, one faction in the Knesset, and all representatives in local authorities are united. This is not a given. For all this, we said Mizmor L'Toda."
