The “battles” in Elad, Beit Shemesh, Ashdod, and Bnei Brak make for a surreal contrast with the real battle taking place in the Gaza Strip
Four senior chareidi politicians, three incumbent and one former, gathered for an emergency meeting last Wednesday on a balcony with a breathtaking view of the hills in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood.
Hosting the gathering was Shas chair and war cabinet member Aryeh Deri, alongside former minister and former Shas co-chair Ariel Attias. The guests were MK Moshe Gafni, chair of Degel HaTorah and the Knesset Finance Committee and Israel’s longest-serving Knesset member; and deputy minister Uri Maklev, Gafni’s number two.
While in Shas, the concept of a “number two” doesn’t exist — there’s Aryeh Deri, and everyone else — Attias is the closest thing the party has to that, despite the fact that he hasn’t held any official role in years.
But back to the emergency meeting: It took place against the backdrop of a bitter battle — and not the one you’re thinking of, the one in Gaza. Over the past few months, Degel HaTorah and Shas have found themselves locked in a fierce struggle for control over the chareidi cities of Beit Shemesh and Elad, among others, ahead of Tuesday’s local elections.
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