Shas source warns against Netanyahu

Yishai says he has no preference among coalition partners; Bibi: Likud would keep education portfolio.

By MATTHEW WAGNER
yishai looks up 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
yishai looks up 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
It would be a mistake for Shas to forge close ties with Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud, a senior Shas source said Wednesday, dousing rumors of a Shas-Likud alliance heading into the election season. "The man generates a lot of antagonism and we should be staying away from anything that causes negative reactions," said the source. "Also, tying ourselves to the Likud limits our political horizons. Who says Netanyahu is going to put together the next government coalition? Kadima might still come out on top and [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni can still move Kadima a little to the right. After all, Kadima is also [Transportation Minister] Shaul Mofaz and [Evironmental Protection Minister] Gideon Ezra," the source said. Shas chairman Eli Yishai said Wednesday night that his party had no preference among Kadima, Labor and Likud as government coalition partners. "I see no difference between Kadima, Labor and Likud; they are all the same from my perspective," Yishai said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai, a haredi station. "If Shas is strong then it does not matter which party ends up receiving the most votes and forming the next government. If we are strong we will have an impact; if not, we won't. It's as simple as that. "People think we have understandings, agreements and deals with one of the parties. It is not true. The only thing that interests us is to do good for the Jewish people, for yiddishkeit, to help the poor, and that is it," Yishai said. The same day that Yishai publicly announced his desire to receive the education portfolio in the next government, Netanyahu rejected the idea. Netanyahu, speaking at a Knesset memorial ceremony marking seven years since terrorists assassinated tourism minister Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi, said that if the Likud puts together the next government, it would keep the education portfolio. In the days leading up to Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni's announcement that she had failed to put together a coalition, rumors circulated that Netanyahu had promised Shas a solution to its child allotments demands. Kadima even accused Netanyahu of torpedoing coalition negotiations by cutting a deal with Shas. The source of the rumors was a meeting three weeks ago between Netanyahu and Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. According to a Netanyahu spokesman who was present at the meeting, Netanyahu told Yosef he saw Shas as a nationalist movement that was a "natural ideological partner of Likud, that shares a common value system." According to the spokesman, Netanyahu also told Yosef that he was the best candidate to protect Israel's poor from the consequences of the global financial crisis. Another factor contributing to the perception that Shas and Likud are moving closer is Yitzhak Sudri, a former Shas spokesman and a member of Yosef's inner circle of family and friends, who was appointed as a Netanyahu adviser. There has been much speculation in the media in recent days about the political expediency of a Shas-Likud alliance. However, Netanyahu's spokesman said there was no agreement between the two parties. Netanyahu's comments on Wednesday rejecting Yishai's request to be education minister marked the first concrete sign of tension between the parties. One Shas source tried to play down the incident. "Eli [Yishai]'s declaration about the education portfolio was a tactical move, meant to show that Shas has something to say about how to educate Jewish children," said the source. "But no one in Shas really believes they are going to get that portfolio. It just helps improve their bargaining position and allows Eli to outline what Shas stands for when it comes to education." Another Shas source said Yishai made a major tactical mistake when he expressed a desire for the portfolio. "[Yishai's] comments caused us damage because they generated unnecessary animosity among secular Israelis who would feel threatened by having a haredi education minister," said the source. "Shas has never, and probably never will, represent the majority on issues such as education, so it is not right for us to be there, just as it is wrong for a secular extremist to be education minister." But Yishai's spokesman, Ro'i Lachmanovitz, said the Shas's chairman was serious about his desire to be education minister. "We want to bring to the educational system Jewish values such as respect for teachers and parents," Lachmanovitz said. "Look at all the violence, the drugs and the total disrespect for authority of this generation. Shas has an educational message that can rehabilitate the educational system. "The father of a boy who goes to a Shas-run school knows that when he asks his son to do something, it gets done."