From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 24, 2026
After being forced to remove ad with soldier, Deri posts messages of support from troops’ families
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri posts a series of tweets featuring pictures of IDF soldiers supporting his ultra-Orthodox Shas party, after the Central Elections Committee ordered him to remove a campaign video featuring an IDF soldier.
The video was ordered removed because it violated a ban on using images of security forces in election materials. The Central Elections Committee does not immediately respond to an inquiry as to whether Deri’s latest posts also violate the ban.
Each of Deri’s posts also contains notes of support for the Haredi politician, ostensibly from the people in the photos. The notes echo the message of the removed Shas ad and paraphrase the language it used.
One message reads, “Our family, the Barnas family, also has members who chose to dedicate their lives to the Torah, alongside those who chose meaningful service in the IDF. This is the Shas home on which we were raised in the light of our teacher, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed and righteous memory: Torah, love of Israel, and unity.”
לכבוד הרב אריה דרעי,
גם אצלנו, במשפחת ברנס, יש בני משפחה שבחרו להקדיש את חייהם לתורה, ולצדם מי שבחרו בשירות משמעותי בצה״ל.
זה הבית הש״סי שעליו גדלנו לאורו של מרן רבנו עובדיה יוסף זצוק״ל – תורה, אהבת ישראל ואחדות.
משפחת ברנס pic.twitter.com/W5Z4SkxYCA— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) August 24, 2026
“The Shas video is so moving because it is simply real, and no one will be able to erase the truth. We are the Maimon family from Bat Yam, and this is exactly our story: two sons studying in yeshivas and defending the people of Israel with their Torah, the eldest son served meaningful service in the IDF, and the father of the family has served hundreds of days of reserve duty days since [the October 7 attack],” another states.
לכבוד הרב אריה דרעי,
הסרטון של ש״ס כל כך מרגש, כי הוא פשוט אמיתי ולא יעזור לאף אחד לנסות למחוק את האמת.
אנחנו משפחת מימון מבת ים, וזה בדיוק הסיפור שלנו: שני בנים לומדים בישיבות ומגינים בתורתם על עם ישראל, הבן הגדול שירת שירות משמעותי בצה״ל, ואב המשפחה יצא למאות ימי מילואים מאז… pic.twitter.com/39g4bN0RGr— אריה מכלוף דרעי (@ariyederi) August 24, 2026
Following a complaint filed by Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition Yashar party, Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg yesterday issued an interim order requiring Deri to take down the video in question and giving him two days to respond to the petition.
The video — an apparent bid to hold onto moderate voters turned off by the party’s active, hardline stance against IDF conscription of ultra-Orthodox men — featured a religious family waiting for their son to arrive home from the army for Shabbat dinner. As the young soldier runs in, he is hugged by his father and brother, a full-time yeshiva student. A message comes up on the screen claiming that “more than 30,000 conscripts and career soldiers voted for Shas in the last election.”
The claim of 30,000 soldiers voting for Shas is unsubstantiated.
The Times of Israel Community.