Shas head tells families of hostages deal hopes still alive

Speaking with families of hostages during his Shas party’s weekly faction meeting, chairman Aryeh Deri says that Israel is “not giving up” on securing their loved ones’ return, despite the failure of recent negotiations.

“It is important that you know that the issue of the abductees is the main issue that comes up in the cabinet discussions. We are not giving up on the matter. Unfortunately, now we are mainly speaking with the mediators, but I really hope that there will be agreement from the other side as well and we can move forward with the deal,” he says, according to a statement sent out by the party.

Noting that any deal would involve paying a difficult prince, Deri says that “if the security cabinet brings a deal that it agrees with, we will bring the matter before the rabbis, as we brought it last time, with a recommendation to support it. All those sitting here are students of our master Rabbi Ovadia Yosef who ruled on the importance of the mitzvah of redeeming captives.”

There is no mention in the statement of a recent threat from the party’s spiritual adviser Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak that ultra-Orthodox Jews will all leave Israel if forced to serve in the military.