‘Shas wanted a large government’

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri says that his party “always wanted a wide government,” at the opening of the Shas faction meeting. Deri says there was an intention to establish a large coalition and he hopes that “efforts will be made in the future to widen it.”

Deri says that “the smile is back on the transparent people’s faces and they see today that they have hope.” He is referencing the Shas election campaign which claimed the party will represent the “transparent people,” a general term for disenfranchised citizens.

After Liberman announced he will not be joining the next government, Deri says, “Sometimes a small and homogeneous coalition is better than a wider one.” He says the party’s locking horns with Jewish Home was not indication of fundamental disagreement but rather “a way of making sure the next government will last for four years.”