Secret Shas tapes reveal late rabbi's feelings: Deri is evil

Never before seen footage of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas' late spiritual leader, was released Sunday, sending the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi party, which is still reeling from the decision of former party chairman Eli Yishai to form his own party, into a political tailspin. The footages shows Yosef strongly criticizing the party's current leader, MK Aryeh Deri, calling him an "evil man" and a thief.

Yishai's new party Yahad Haam Itanu, which was established as a result of his bitter rivalry with Deri, stands to split Shas voters. The new footage is likely to further polarize Yishai and Deri supporters.

The video, which aired on Channel 2 News on Sunday, was filmed in December 2008, when Yishai was serving as Shas chairman while Deri was barred from politics after serving a prison sentence for bribery. In the video, Yosef is shown at a private Hanukkah gathering with his youngest son, Moshe Yosef, his daughter-in-law Yehudit and his personal assistant Tzvi Hakak.

At one point, Yosef's son asks his father if he plans to reinstall Deri as Shas' chairman upon his release from prison, as he had originally promised. Yosef responds, "When the time comes, I will let him know. Around 30 to 40 percent [of the public] thinks that the court was right [to convict Deri]. The remainder disagree. Now, if he were, for example, to be at the top of our list, 30 to 40 percent [of voters] would leave us.

"The court has judged him. Why should we use a thief? Why should we use someone who accepts bribes? Thirty to 40 percent will leave us. Why should we do that? No one has anything on Yishai."

Yosef goes on to draw comparisons between Yishai and Deri: "How can I betray [Yishai] when he listens to me about everything -- how can I deny him this? I know from past experience, [Deri] is too independent. Is that not evil-"

Yosef is then heard telling the story of Deri's disloyalty in ousting a family member from a political position at the last minute. "He did that. Your mother cried tears. ... Is that not evil? I told him, I spoke with him several times, but he didn't want to listen."

Yosef repeats his criticism of Deri's independent nature, adding that he does not care if Deri forms a new party. "Go to another party, create a new party -- what do I care? Let him start a new party. He encouraged [kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak] Kaduri to start a new party. What did he get? Maybe 5,000 votes -- he didn't even pass the [electoral] threshold. ... What do we want from him? What does he want from me? I cannot betray Eli Yishai."

At another point in the video, Yosef explains why Deri was dismissed in 1999. "Everyone knows he went to prison," he says. "When there was an opportunity to do something, our Defense Minister [then-Prime Minister, Ehud] Barak said he wouldn't work with Shas [if a convicted Deri stayed on]. I had to appoint someone else, what could I do? Could I leave 17 MKs without a leader? I had to make someone chairman. That is what I decided. Someone needed to lead them. Does it look like I have time to deal with 17 MKs-"

Later, Yosef spoke about Shas' decision to abstain from voting on the 1993 Oslo Accords, thereby facilitating the favorable Knesset vote on the issue. "It was [Deri's] idea," he is heard saying. "He led it all. ... I wasn't against it, I didn't want to get involved. He knows more."

Shas convened an emergency strategy meeting following the tape's airing, to devise ways to deal with its potential political fallout. Speaking with Israel Hayom, one Shas official blamed the leak on Yishai, saying, "Many voters will hate Eli Yishai for this, he demeaned Rabbi Ovadia. We will obviously have to deal with the damage, but people will not let what he did to Rabbi Ovadia pass in silence. People will not accept it."

Deri said in a statement, "At this time, when the nation expects unity, the man who calls himself 'loyal' decided to release a recording made without Maran's [Yosef's] knowledge, abusing the trust placed in him. Mr. Yishai is trampling on Maran's honor to advance his petty personal interests, proving that he betrayed the trust given to him by the rabbi."

Sources close to Yishai denied he had leaked the video, adding that if he had wanted to release it, he would have done so closer to election time.

Yishai's spiritual patron Rabbi Meir Mazouz commented on the matter, saying, "This was not our idea. It was not Eli's idea. Someone decided to do this on their own."

Political sources hedged Sunday that the video was made public in response to recent pressures on Yosef's children to sign a letter condemning Yishai's decision to split from Shas and from a rival party.

Yosef's son, Rabbi David Yosef, who is a member of the party's Council of Sages and is Deri's close friend, has reportedly agreed to sign the letter to that effect.

His other son, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who is Israel's chief Sephardi rabbi, is barred from making public political statements due to his position. However, should he refuse to sign the letter, it may be construed as a show of support of Yishai.

Former Shas minister Ariel Atias is reportedly helping negotiate between the Yosef family and those drafting the letter.

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