Liberman has ‘deal with Blue and White, Left, Arab parties’ to form gov’t

FEBRUARY 2, 2020 21:06

Shas leader Aryeh Deri alleged that his erstwhile friend Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman has come to an agreement with Blue and White, the left-wing political parties to form a government supported by the Joint List of Arab parties after the upcoming elections.

Speaking at an event launching Shas’ election campaign, Deri also castigated his erstwhile friend Liberman and accused him of responsibility for Israel’s ongoing political stalemate, while warning of impending doom for the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

The campaign launch was a far more low-key affair than similar such events over the last two elections, in a modest events hall in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul neighborhood.

Several hundred Shas activists nevertheless showed up to cheer on Deri and the rest of the Shas electoral slate, with the familiar raucous music extolling the Shas chairman and its spiritual leader Rabbi Shalom Cohen blaring to welcome the MKs to the stage.

Deri started his speech by lamenting the wasted billions on the elections, and the inability of the interim government to take decisions and pass a budget.

“There is only one person responsible and that is Avigdor Liberman,” declared Deri, to a chorus of hissing and boos for the Yisrael Beytenu leader.

“From the beginning to the end he is the only person responsible,” averred Deri.

The Shas leader said Liberman had used the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment as an “excuse” not to join a right-wing government after the April election, and that he had then “re-marketed himself as anti ultra-Orthodox to gain votes in the September campaign, and now in the current one.

And he went on to allege that Liberman’s recent pledge, made several times over the last week, that there will not be fourth elections, is based on an agreement he has made to form a minority government with Blue and White and Meretz and Labor, supported by the Joint List.

“I have checked out his claim with the most trustworthy sources and it is true, there is an agreement and they’re going to form a government immediately after the elections,” asserted Deri.

“I have checked out his claim. YEs, there is an agreement betw. him and Gantz, Lapid, Meretz, Avodah, and Joint List, Odeh and Tibi to have govt. immediately after elections.

“It is agreed. This time he is telling the truth.

“This coalition has already been stitched together and this is a danger to the Jewish character of State of Israel as a Jewish state, it is a danger to the Land of Israel, and it is a danger to Shabbat, whether or not it will continue to be a day of rest, or become like week days.”

Deri also questioned whether or not “the gates will be opened to hundreds of thousands of non-Jews to enter the country.”

This comment referenced the recent debate over the Law of Return, and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s comments that “hundreds of thousands” of civilians from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish according to Jewish law were brought to the country to counterbalance the influence of the ultra-Orthodox.

Deri said that Shas and Likud were now cooperating on the ground in their efforts to reach all potential right-wing, religiously traditional and ultra-Orthodox voters to exhaust entirely the electoral potential of the right-wing bloc.

The Shas leader also underlined his right-wing credentials which have often been in question since Shas abstained in the Knesset on a vote on the Oslo Accords in 1993 allowing it to pass.

Deri peppered his speech with references to “the Land of Israel,” and warmly praised US President Donald Trump for the plan he unveiled last week.

“The Land of Israel belongs to us in the merit of promises that God gave ti our forefathers. Anyone who believes in the Bible knows that Creator promised this land to the Jewish people. We are not asking for favors from everyone

“We very much thank President Donald Trump who has presented a plan which really looks out for the security of the Land of Israel, recognizes our borders and the settlements, and we give our prime minister our trust and support that he knows how to do the best thing for the Land of Israel and the people of Israel.”