Why Was Eli Yishai’s First Show of Force Cancelled?

Former Shas chairperson Eli Yishai, who recently launched his new Ha’am Itanu party, was supposed to hold his first show of force on Wednesday by opening a branch of his party in Be’er Sheva – that opening ceremony was cancelled at the last minute, leaving many asking why.

An organizer of the event and a source close to Yishai, Ya’akov Ohayon, announced the cancellation on Tuesday.

“After I consulted with great rabbis, and after much thought, I reached the decision that for me and the rest of us in days as sensitive as these it is forbidden to support division of the Sephardic public and harming the Shas movement which Maran (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z”l) founded,” wrote Ohayon on Facebook.

“Particularly now when Maran may his merit defend us isn’t among us, I feel the obligation of every Sephardic Jew is to continue to cling to the path of Maran and to do everything in our power for the spiritual revolution that was started, and that’s how I’ll act,” wrote Ohayon.

So what actually caused Ohayon to suddenly change his position at the last minute?

Sources in Shas claimed that Ohayon “deserted” to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri’s camp. Meanwhile sources with Yishai said Ohayon intended to establish a central branch in Be’er Sheva – but asked for it to be located at his event hall.

“The moment he got a definite no (for using the hall), he gives an impression that he was insulted, leading to this post,” the sources close to Yishai said.

Some polls have shown Yishai’s party would neatly split Shas’s electoral power in half with each receiving four mandates, and other polls have affirmed that prediction, even while others estimate Yishai may not make it past the threshold percentage.

There has been a Shas backlash against Yishai, with one extremist Shas member arrested for threatening Yishai.

Rabbanit Adina Bar Shalom, the eldest daughter of Shas founder and mentor Rabbi Yosef, reportedly was also threatened with consequences if she doesn’t write a letter condemning Yishai.

Bar Shalom was revealed last week to have slammed Deri in recordings, saying “he is not behaving in the way my father expected him to.”