Deri said to tell virus cabinet he doesn’t represent Arabs; Jews need bigger weddings

Walla news reports on a verbal spat between ministers and Shas head Aryeh Deri in the coronavirus cabinet, as he tries to push approval for weddings with up to 200 guests.

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that it will bring about “another large outbreak among Arabs,” Deri, who is interior minister for Israel’s Jewish and non-Jewish citizens, responds that “I represent the Jewish people.”

He also gets into it with Itzik Shmuli.

“You don’t understand Jewish heritage and the importance of a wedding to a couple,” the ultra-Orthodox Deri tells Shmuli.

Shmuli responds, “Don’t belittle my Judaism and I won’t belittle yours.”

Deri then asks, “What do you want. It’s a Jewish state,” to which Shmuli responds that he should focus on epidemiology, “not anything else.”