Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri says he is relishing the prospect of new elections, despite the fact that his party is expected to suffer a slight drop in seats according to a series of recent polls.
Speaking to journalists at a press conference in the southern city of Ashdod, Deri voiced his satisfaction at the impending collapse of the current governing coalition.
“The time has come to swap this arrogant and haughty government, which is involved with itself all day,” with a more socially-minded one, he said.
Deri also dismissed claims of backroom political deals between Shas and other parties in the run-up to an expected official declaration of general elections, which sources say is likely to take place in March of next year. In particular, rumors have abounded in the past days and weeks of attempts by Prime Minister Netanyahu to court the hareidi parties in anticipation of a new coalition without the secularist Yesh Atid and Hatnua parties.
“All options are open,” Deri said, but added: “In order to dispel any doubt, there is no ‘deal’ with anyone for the day after elections.”
The only deal his party would be striking would be during negotiations with the victor of elections on entering into the coalition government, Deri insisted – negotiations which would be based on on his two primary conditions: lowering VAT on basic commodities and increasing minimum wage to 30 shekels per hour.
“I was happy to read this morning in the newspapers that the prime minister also thinks like us, that we need to lower VAT on basic goods and ease the cost of living issue for citizens – it’s just a shame that in the course of five years he has not acted on the subject,” Deri added.
Hinting at the direction Shas’s election campaign might take Deri turned to his political nemeses – left-wing coalition partners Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, who head the Yesh Atid and Hatnua parties respectively – calling on them to conduct a respectful campaign based on shared beliefs and not on “hatred.”
“I call on Yair and Tzipi, we are brothers – enough with the discourse of hatred,” he said, urging them to mount a campaign based on social justice as opposed to “a dialogue of hatred.”
“Let’s act for the sake of the citizens and bring down the cost of living.”
Following the death of Shas’s former spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, whose persona and personal endorsement were critical assets during previous election campaigns, some have predicted Deri is likely to place a particular emphasis on economic policies which appeal to the party’s working-class Sephardic supporters.
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