A dramatic development in the election campaign occurred this week: former interior minister and Shas leader Aryeh Deri seems closer than ever to announcing his candidacy for mayor of Jerusalem. In fact, some of his closest associates say he has already decided to run but will not go public until his attorneys assure him that his legal situation allows it.

Aryeh Deri.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Deri was convicted of fraud, corruption and accepting bribes in March 1999 and sentenced to four years in jail, which he began in September 2000. He was released (for good behavior) after two years, but according to the law, since the crimes of which he was convicted involved mortal turpitude, he is forbidden to run for any public position for seven years.

These seven years will end about 10 months after the municipal elections. But, says Deri, because the seven years "frozen" rule was decided after his conviction (it was only five years at the time), it cannot be imposed on him retroactively, and therefore he should be allowed to run.

Over the past few days, Deri has been consulting leading lawyers on the issue. In the meantime, he has already obtained the support of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on the condition that his candidacy meet the stipulations of the law. In this case, Deri will run as an independent candidate for mayor, and not as leader of the Shas list. What this means is that if he loses, he will not, like Nir Barkat in the last elections, lead the opposition in city council but probably return to his business dealings.

Deputy Mayor Eli Simhayof, who is considered very close to Deri, says that "he will immediately obtain the support of all the Sephardi haredim, who certainly outnumber the Ashkenazi haredim, and on top of them, a large part of the traditional Sephardim."

The threat is apparently so real that haredi candidate MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) met with Yosef in a last bid try to obtain his backing and persuade Deri to withdraw from the race.

The meeting took place at midnight on Tuesday at Yosef's home in Har Nof. Porush was accompanied by his father, Rabbi Menahem Porush.

"There is no way Rabbi Ovadia will not back a Sephardi haredi who wants to run for mayor of the holy city," says a Shas supporter. "If Deri decides to run, he will get all the support from Shas leaders and voters, and on top of that, also the votes of most of the Sephardim in the city, whether they are religious or not."

As for the matter of a split between haredi candidates, Shas supporters agree that under no circumstances will the haredi public - Ashkenazi and Sephardi - allow two candidates to represent the haredi sector.

"It's like a poker game - one of them will blink first and will have to withdraw, and because until now the polls haven't been very flattering for Porush, the chances that in the end Deri will represent the haredi community and win are more than fair," adds the Shas supporter. "In any case, there will only be one haredi candidate."