Aryeh Deri’s Son and Relatives Hold Multiple Positions in World Zionist Organization Supervising Themselves

Yankee Deri, son of Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, manages the Community Relations Strengthening Department at the World Zionist Organization and joined the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) board earlier this year. His simultaneous appointment to the KKL board required him to sign a conflict of interest agreement, which reveals that three of his close relatives also hold positions within the national institutions. All three serve on the Executive Committee of the World Zionist Organization, the top decision-making body between congresses, responsible for setting policy and overseeing the organization’s activities.

The relatives include Moshe Ben Naim, son of Aryeh Deri’s sister Hanna Ben Naim, who was a senior figure in Shas’s religious education network; Efrat Cohen, daughter of Aryeh Deri’s brother Yehuda, the chief rabbi of Beersheba; and Netanel Peretz, another family member. All three represent the global Shas faction on the Executive Committee, with Ben Naim and Cohen serving as alternates. Previously, Aryeh Deri’s brother Shlomo Deri chaired the KKL board and was a member of its directorate. Yanki Deri was expected to assume a similar role in June, but the Shas faction withdrew the nomination.

Aryeh Deri’s office responded that the appointments are for a one-time five-year term without salary or benefits. Neither the World Zionist Organization nor Yanki Deri provided comments. The situation highlights concerns about overlapping family roles in bodies that supervise each other within Israel’s national institutions.