Religious Affairs: Likud and Shas - natural partners?

Both parties deny that they've sealed a secret coalition deal. But then they would, wouldn't they?

By MATTHEW WAGNER
Yishai brill 248.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Yishai brill 248.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
As the nation switched into election mode this week, Shas chairman Eli Yishai revived an old specter - Sephardi-Ashkenazi ethnic tension. According to Yishai, it was "racism" that motivated members of Kadima's negotiating team to accuse Shas of engaging in extortion tactics during coalition talks. "Interesting that when Labor demands, and gets, NIS 1.5 billion as part of the coalition agreement, no one is involved in extortion," he said at the opening of a Shas faction meeting in the Knesset. "It seems that the extorters have a very particular appearance, with a beard." Yishai's claims of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity are not new to the party whose raison d'etre is to improve the lot of observant Israelis of North African and Middle Eastern origin. In the late 1990s, former Shas chairman Aryeh Deri trotted out old ethnic animosities held over from the days when Mapai's secular Ashkenazi elite dominated the nation's culture, education and politics. Desperate to prevent his eventual prosecution on bribery charges, he exploited feelings of inadequacy among Sephardim - who tend to be poorer and less educated - to mobilize large crowds who demonstrated against the "Sephardi-hating, Ashkenazi-dominated, media and legal establishments." Nonetheless, Yishai's attempt to appeal to Sephardi ethnic pride received mixed reactions. For instance, Jacki Levi, a Sephardi entertainer, applauded him. "There is no other explanation for Kadima's behavior beside racism," he said on Army Radio's Last Word program. In contrast, sources in Shas were extremely critical of Yishai. "If Kadima's people had said something explicitly racist against Shas, then I would understand Yishai," said one source. "But all they said was that we are extorters. So what? "Besides, how can you call a party racist, when people like Eli Aflalo and Shaul Mofaz are members? And why should we restrict ourselves to Sephardi voters? What about traditional Ashkenazim who stand to benefit from higher child allotments? Yishai made a fool out of himself." Whether or not it was politically expedient for Yishai to resort to old ethnic tensions, there seems to be a consensus within Shas that in this election campaign, ethnicity will not be an issue. "WE ARE going to see a lot of pictures of poor, sick children in Shas's campaign," estimated sociologist Menahem Friedman, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University. "Shas is going to appeal to the society's irrational tendency to increase welfare benefits when financial crisis looms on the horizon. It may not make good economic sense to increase welfare transfers at a time when tax revenues are expected to fall. But fear of hard times drives people to act against common sense." Shas is vividly aware of its unique ability in the present political environment to capitalize on populist fears that the poor will be getting poorer. Labor, at least nominally social-democratic in orientation, is the natural candidate to champion the poor. Perhaps in an attempt to revamp Labor's pro-proletariat image, chairman Ehud Barak denounced what he called "piggish capitalism" this week, and said that Labor offered "solidarity, sensitivity and social responsibility." But it is doubtful that Labor, with its close ties to big business names, will manage to present itself as a protector of the poor. Also, the party failed to put serious emphasize on welfare issues during coalition negotiations with Kadima. Meanwhile, Meretz is too far to the left and too secular for Shas's constituency. Friedman, a groundbreaking researcher of haredi society, expects Shas to increase its political strength from its present 12 Knesset seats by running a campaign based on welfare issues and social affairs. He predicts that any future government coalition will need Shas as a partner. And a Likud-Shas alliance makes the most sense. According to the haredi weekly Mishpacha, Shas and the Likud have a secret deal to form a government coalition together. Reportedly, the Likud promised to form a government coalition with Shas, and promised Yishai the Interior portfolio and deputy prime ministership. The Religious Affairs portfolio will also go to Shas, according to Mishpaha, along with two additional ministries. Torah institutions' budgets will remain unchanged. One point of contention that remains unresolved, according to the report, is child allotments, Shas's single most important demand of any future government. Kadima's refusal to meet Shas's request for a NIS 1 billion addition to child allotments resulted in the collapse of coalition talks and precipitated early elections. MEANWHILE, LIKUD chairman Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman denied that there was any deal with Shas. Nevertheless, he said that during a meeting with Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef three weeks ago, Netanyahu told Yosef that he saw Shas as a "natural ideological partner" of the Likud. Netanyahu promised Yosef that his party would keep Jerusalem a unified city. Yishai also denied that there was an agreement with the Likud during an interview on Radio Kol Chai, a haredi station. "Shas has no preference among Labor, the Likud and Kadima. From our perspective, they are all the same," he said. "The only thing that is important is a strong Shas." Whether or not the Mishpaha report is correct, both Shas and the Likud are extremely uncomfortable with being cast as political allies. One senior Shas source said Wednesday that it was a mistake for Shas to forge close ties with Netanyahu's Likud. "Tying ourselves to the Likud limits our political horizons. Who says Netanyahu is going to put together the next coalition? Kadima might still come out on top and [Kadima chairwoman Tzipi] Livni can still move Kadima to the right. After all, Kadima is also [Transportation Minister Shaul] Mofaz, and [Environmental Protection Minister] Gideon Ezra." Netanyahu, too, took steps to distance the Likud from Shas. On Wednesday, the same day that Yishai publicly announced his desire to receive the Education portfolio in the next government, Netanyahu rejected the idea. Speaking at a Knesset memorial ceremony marking seven years since terrorists assassinated tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi, Netanyahu said that if the Likud forms the next government, it will keep the Education portfolio. If an alliance between the two parties does exist, both Shas and the Likud have an interest in hiding from the public eye. The Likud musters a good portion of its constituency from right-wing, secular Ashkenazim. If these voters know that a vote for the Likud is also a vote for Shas, they might be turned away. Also, many of the Likud's supporters are conservative on economic issues. They do not want a Likud that is willing to buy a haredi party's support with generous welfare payments. Shas has an interest in keeping the alliance a secret so as not lose votes to the Likud. Many vacillating Shas supporters might vote for the Likud if they knew that no matter what happens, a Likud-led coalition will include Shas. Also, there is no reason for Shas to restrict itself to a right-wing constituency. It makes more sense for it to focus on traditional Jews who are poor or who stand to benefit from increased child allotments.