Digging in, Shas shuns Knesset sessions over ‘racist’ comments

Shas stood its ground Wednesday in a demand that the newly appointed head of Channel 10 News be fired over racist comments he is alleged to have made against the party and its head, Aryeh Deri.

Digging in with their threat to impose coalition sanctions unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as communications minister, immediately intervenes to replace Rami Sadan, appointed as Channel 10 news director on Monday, Shas Knesset members including its leader Interior Minister Deri are refusing to take part in Knesset debates or votes until the issue is resolved.

An opposition bill to raise the state pension narrowly failed to pass a vote in the Knesset Wednesday with 45-44 voting against. Shas followed through on their vow not to attend but did not vote against the coalition.

Sadan, a close associate of the Netanyahu family, was quoted by the Haaretz newspaper Tuesday morning calling Deri a thief a day earlier and making a stereotyped reference to the ultra-Orthodox party’s base of Mizrahi Jews of North African and Middle Eastern descent.

Deri served a prison sentence between 2000 and 2002 for embezzlement before resuming his political career ahead of the 2015 Knesset elections. He is currently under investigation for new graft suspicions.

Sadan reportedly told the Channel 10 News board of directors: “Let’s admit the truth: I, like you, part of the elite, hate the Shas movement and that thief Aryeh Deri. But we, as the elite, have to broaden the channel’s circles and appeal to the audience of Shas, to Massouda from Sderot,” using a stereotype referring to a person of Mizrahi descent living on Israel’s periphery.

After a meeting of Shas Knesset members Wednesday morning, the party released a statement reiterating an announcement a day earlier, saying that “members of the Shas faction will not take part in today’s Knesset meetings and votes.”

Earlier in the day, the party rejected an investigation into the report by the Second Authority for Television and Radio, which oversees broadcasting licenses, and said the Shas MKS would be consulting with rabbinic leadership “to receive guidance of how to move forward.”

While CEO of Channel 10 News Golan Yochpaz confirmed Tuesday evening that Sadan had made disparaging remarks about Deri, officials from the Second Authority were quoted in Hebrew media Wednesday as rejecting the allegations.

Sadan has repeatedly denied making any inappropriate comments and posted on Facebook Tuesday that he is mulling a defamation suit, apparently against Haaretz.

Deri was set to appear before the Knesset Interior Affairs Committee Wednesday to represent the state in a discussion about African asylum seekers in Israel, but canceled his appearance in order to meet with coalition chair David Bitan of Likud.

Deri said he had informed Bitan of the party’s decision not to take part in the legislative proceedings. In a statement released following the meeting, Bitan said there was a “positive atmosphere” at the meeting. He said Sadan had made “inappropriate comments,” but also criticized the media for “exaggerating the claims.”

A boycott from Shas could present a problem for Bitan, who as coalition chair acts as the whip responsible for ensuring the government has a majority in all Knesset votes. Without Shas’s six Knesset members, the coalition will have just 59 votes out of the 120-seat plenum.

Shas has received support from across the political spectrum, with a number of lawmakers joining its plea for Sadan to be fired.

The chairman of the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee, MK Eli Alaluf of Kulanu, canceled a scheduled meeting on Wednesday in protest against the alleged statements.

”I apologize to those who bothered to come to the meeting, but I am closing it immediately,” Alaluf said. “I thought it would be appropriate to cancel the meeting as an act of protest over the racist comments that were heard in the media, particularly those attributed to Rami Sadan. There is no room for such a person, who expresses racism and insults people while holding a public position.”

Slamming Sadan as a “pathetic racist,” MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) described the Channel 10 chairman on her Twitter page as “the silencing arm of Balfour” — a reference to the official residence of the prime minster on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street, and the fact that Sadan was a media adviser for the Netanyahu family in the past. She added, “Woe to the fingers that approved this appointment.”

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid issued a statement condemning Sadan’s “racist, inciting and hateful” statements.

Sadan was appointed by the Channel 10 board in a vote Monday night, receiving the support of controlling shareholders and the CEO of the Nana 10 website. His appointment was seen by some as an attempt to give Netanyahu influence over the news decisions of the channel, which is considered critical of his policies and conduct.