Right-wing Knesset members condemned one of Shas’s leaders, Arye Deri, on Sunday
for coming out in support of a long-term interim agreement with the Palestinian
Authority.
Deri told The Jerusalem Post in an interview Thursday that
Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef favors pursuing longterm interim agreements as
long as they do not endanger Israelis. He said the advantage of long-term
interim agreements was that they could be stopped and changed if they do not
work.
The MKs noted Shas’s abstention on the Oslo Accord vote in 1993
under Deri’s leadership. They warned that now he is in the party’s leadership
triumvirate he would shift Shas leftward.
“It must be clear to everyone
that in the Shas leadership there are voices pushing the party to the leftist
bloc,” said Likud MK Danny Danon.
“That is why nationalist camp voters
must strengthen Likud Beytenu and not vote for satellite parties.”
MK Uri
Ariel, who is second on Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi list, said that anyone
who remembers that Deri was “a senior partner in the Oslo disaster that led to
thousands of casualties” must not vote for Shas.
“Deri is sending Shas
back to the days of Oslo,” warned Strong Israel MK Arieh Eldad.
“With
Deri, it is hard to say what he is more: corrupt or left-wing extremist. His
diplomatic agenda could once again drown Israel in a sea of blood. Those who
know that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel must know that
voting for Shas could help Israel’s enemies and result in the heart of our
homeland being given to the Arabs.”
MK Eitan Cabel, who heads the
response team of the Labor Party, which wants to form a coalition with Shas,
praised Deri.
“I welcome any statement or plan that advances us closer to
an agreement with the Palestinians,” Cabel said.
“Such an agreement is in
Israel’s interest and the more time passes the more we will end paying and the
less we will end up achieving.”
Meretz condemned Deri for being too
conservative in supporting an interim agreement in which Israel would withdraw
from part of the West Bank without evacuating settlements. The head of Meretz’s
response team, former MK Mossy Raz, said nothing less than a final-status
agreement with the Palestinians was acceptable.
“There cannot be an
agreement with the Palestinians without creating a Palestinian state and
evacuating settlements,” Raz said.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this
report.