Shas said pushing PM to bring opposition parties into coalition, weaken Ben Gvir
Report claims Aryeh Deri reached out to National Unity and Yesh Atid MKs to explore possibility of cooperation amid several bitter feuds with far-right national security minister
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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 leader Aryeh Deri is reportedly pushing the prime minister to expand the makeup of the coalition in order to dilute the influence of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Citing unnamed political sources, the Ynet news site reported that Deri has been urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring in opposition parties Yesh Atid, New Hope, National Unity and Yisrael Beytenu in order to counter Ben Gvir, an extremist firebrand who is often highly critical of the government’s decisions.
The news site reported that Deri has reached out to National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot and Yesh Atid’s Elazar Stern to explore such a possibility.
Deri and Ben Gvir engaged in a particularly raucous public dispute in July over the Shas-backed Rabbis Bill, after the minister refused to back the legislation unless he was granted greater influence over the course of the war in Gaza by Netanyahu. Shas at the time called the Otzma Yehudit chief “nothing but an inflated balloon,” while Ben Gvir accused Deri of being a leftist puppet who seeks “surrender and obsequiousness” in the ongoing war.
The Haredi political parties have also been outraged over Ben Gvir’s efforts to legitimize Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount, with the minister repeatedly declaring that it was allowed despite Netanyahu’s office continually rejecting the move, saying that the status quo remains in place. Shas and United Torah Judaism follow the Haredi school of thought that contends Jews may not ascend the Temple Mount — the site of the two destroyed Temples — as its holiness precludes setting foot there nowadays.
After a recent visit to the site by Ben Gvir, Deri was widely reported to have met with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid for the first time in over a decade to discuss cooperating on a resolution that would affirm a 1967 ruling of Jewish law from the Chief Rabbinate, according to which Jews are forbidden from ascending the holy site.
While the secularist Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu parties are staunchly opposed to many of the religious proscriptions Shas seeks in the law, Israel’s often-mercurial political arena has seen former enemies get in bed together in the past to serve other goals.
Shortly after the outbreak of the war, National Unity chief Benny Gantz — whose party was at the time united with that of New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar — joined Netanyahu’s government to establish a unity government. New Hope split from National Unity in March, leaving the government, and Gantz’s party departed the coalition in June, after accusing the prime minister of refusing to pursue a plan for post-war Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gantz was photographed Monday night alongside National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government at the wedding of a prominent ultra-Orthodox political figure’s daughter — sparking outrage from some others in the opposition.
“Benny, I understand you are getting under the stretcher again,” tweeted Yair Golan, leader of The Democrats party, a Labor party rebrand, using a Hebrew expression based in military slang that means taking part in a group effort — implying that Gantz is aiding right-wing efforts to preserve Netanyahu’s embattled rule by nurturing relationships with his allies.
הכנתי ליאיר גולן ויאיר לפיד כרזה נגד בני גנץ לבחירות הבאות. על לא דבר. pic.twitter.com/bvCMkeqcXT
— Elad Pick-Tarantino (@Eladingo) September 2, 2024
Gantz was one of many public figures — including Sa’ar, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana — who attended the wedding of the daughter of Motti Babchik, a senior adviser to Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of UTJ.
Babchik, a prominent member of the Gur Hasidic group, carries significant influence in ultra-Orthodox circles. He was previously an aide to former UTJ chief Yaakov Litzman. During his association with Litzman, Babchik was arrested on suspicion of corruption and bribery, although the case was later closed.
According to a report by Channel 12 in July, Gantz and Babchik met at the time as part of the former’s efforts to cultivate political relationships with the ultra-Orthodox.
