Prisoner Of Faith

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A

Deri, Shas leader who took bribes, goes
to prison with religious-secular tension high.

in Israel throughout the summer.
Reflecting the ongoing reli gious-secu-
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
lar rift in Israeli society, the conflict
recently heated up over remarks made
Jerusalem
by Shas leaders about the Holocaust
he man who galvanized
and attacks on the legal system.
Israel's working-class
This sparked a secular outcry,
Sephardi community into a
including a call by some intellectuals
political force is serving a
for creation of a Shas-free, secular
three-year jail sentence for taking bribes.
"New Israel." In Jerusalem on Sunday,
Former Shas Party leader Aryeh
members of kibbutz youth
Deri was surrounded by tens
movements held a pro-democ-
of thousands of supporters
racy vigil outside the Supreme
when he reported to a prison
E
Court building.
detention center.
The tensions also take place
At a solidarity rally organized
against the backdrop of Israeli
at the entrance to the Nitzan
2
coalition politics and the fal-
detention facility in central
tering peace process.
Israel, Deri told an estimated
Shas pulled out of the govern-
crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 sup- Aryeh D eri
ment in July to protest the Camp
porters that he accepts the jail
David summit, as well as what it
sentence with love.
termed as Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
"I tell you I will soon enter these walls
"humiliating" treatment of the party.
with a happy heart because I accept with
Critics of Shas counter that Barak
happiness the will of the Holy One,
had heeded most of the party's
blessed be He," Deri told the crowd.
demands. They also note that as the
Deri was ordered by Israel's
third-largest faction in the Knesset with
Supreme Court last week to begin
17 members, Shas cannot try to present
serving a three-year jail sentence for
itself as a downtrodden political entity.
accepting $60,000 in bribes. The
court had rejected his appeal of the
conviction and a request to begin the
Coalition Politics
sentence after the High Holidays.
Some
commentators have suggested
Deri has insisted he's innocent,
that
when
two other right-wing parties
claiming his conviction was ethnically
pulled
our
of the government, Shas pre-
motivated. In remarks on Shas radio
ferred not to risk the political uncertain-
stations the previous night, Deri reit-
ty of remaining aligned with Barak and
erated his charge that he is the victim
peace concessions that would be hard to
of persecution by the Ashkenazi, left-
sell to hawkish party supporters.
wing establishment.
In the latest move connected with
"The ruling group had one sacred
this issue, the Israeli Cabinet on
objective.— to put Aryeh Deri in jail,"
Sunday approved the dismantling of
Deri said.
the Ministry of Religious Affairs and
He also claimed that "80 percent of
the distribution of its power to various
the judges" and prosecutors are sup-
government ministries and local
porters of the left-wing Meretz Party.
authorities. Acting Religious Affairs
This message was carried by Shas
Minister Yossi Beilin, who has pro-
supporters at the solidarity rally, who
posed the idea, said it was intended to
waved signs reading "Free Deri" and
separate politics from religious services.
"The Revolution Will Not Be
Deli's incarceration raises questions
Stopped." In the skies above them, a
over the political future of Shas, which
counterdemonstration took place in
is divided by internal power struggles
the form of a motorized paraglider that
between Deri and current leader Eli
flew over the .rally, the words "Number
Yishai.
One Thief" written on the sail.
Yona Deri, the jailed leader's sister-
in-law, told Israel Army Radio on
Strains Of Belief
Sunday that it was clear Deri would
return to some position of leadership
Deli's incarceration was a focal point
after he completes his sentence.
for social tensions that have simmered

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