If Yair Lapid visits the City of David, he will become religious and join Shas,
Interior Minister Eli Yishai joked at an Israeli Zionist Council and World
Zionist Organization event on Friday.
Yishai slammed the columnist-
turned-politician, who said that Shas has the country “wrapped around its
finger,” at the opening event of a conference of mayors affiliated with the
Zionist organizations, which took place in the City of David.
The
interior minister also emphasized the importance of the archaeological park, and
called for all Israeli youth to visit the site, because “Jerusalem is the
eternal capital of the State of Israel and expresses the deep roots of the
Jewish people in its land.”
The Shas leader’s quip about Lapid was a
continuation of reactions by his party following Lapid’s criticism in a speech
on Thursday night.
The Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party mocked Lapid for
“risking his life for his country during his army service at Bamachane,” the IDF
magazine.
A Shas spokesman pointed out that Lapid does not have a high
school matriculation certificate, saying in a statement that his education is
“lower than what can be achieved in Shas Educational Network schools,” and that
the public is intelligent enough to recognize that he is trying to “blind them
with verbal trickery.”
On Thursday, Lapid presented his political agenda
at a conference in Eilat, saying that he plans to represent the middle class.
The former Channel 2 news anchor, talk-show host and newspaper columnist said
that the ultra- Orthodox, Arabs, tycoons and corrupt politicians are holding the
state hostage.