Where’s Aryeh Deri? Shas campaign quietly pushes its leader aside

Anyone following the Shas Party's campaign in the media may have noticed something rather surprising: The party's Chairman, Aryeh Deri, has all but completely disappeared from the content. According to a Channel 16 report, Shas campaigners have admitted behind closed doors that Deri's presence is alienating potential voters and causing electoral damage. According to a campaign official quoted in the report, internal surveys show that Deri is the target of harsh criticism by two target voting blocs: many in the haredi community see him as failing to advance the draft exemption bill and as not sufficiently confronting the Prime Minister, while among the general and traditional public, he is criticized for sitting in the cabinet and sending soldiers into battle as allegations are raised concerning members of his own family. Instead of Deri, the campaign features former MKs and ministers such as Yoav Ben Tzur, Uriel Busso, Yaakov Mergi, who resigned, and above, the late Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and his son, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Despite periods of tension between the two in the past, they have since reconciled, and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef now features prominently in the party’s campaign materials, while Deri remains sidelined. Shas declined to comment.