Nothing more than a setup

The wild war between Aryeh Deri's Shas and Eli Yishai's Yahad Haam Itanu is taking place on television. On Sunday, Channel 2 reporters Amit Segal and Yair Sharki played the leaked footage of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef saying that many see Deri as a thief and describing him as an "evil man." The counterstrike came the next day when Channel 10's Avishai Ben-Haim got a scoop from Deri saying that he had submitted his resignation to the Shas leadership. A lesson in false pretenses.

Crying, whining and heartbroken over how they besmirched Yosef's honor by releasing the tapes (not true at all, the damage was not done to Yosef, but to Deri, since the footage reveals what Yosef thought about him in 2008 -- and if he ever changed his mind, the burden of proof is on Shas).

The tape in which Yosef attacks Deri and defends Yishai was not really a secret -- as with many other tapes, I had heard about this one three or four years ago, and if Deri also has tapes that would make Yishai look bad -- he should make them public. This is not extortion, it is the realization of the public's right to know.

If Deri meant what he said in the heartbreaking and tearful letter, he could have been answered with the "Mi Sheberach" prayer or with the famous verse (Judges 6:14): "Go in this your strength, and save" Shas. He should resign for the public good. But he has no intention to do so. He did not fight for the Shas leadership for 10 years after getting out of prison just to quit over an old tape of Yosef speaking.

This was a setup. Deri allowed himself to resign only because he knew he was protected and that the rabbis would oppose the move and order him to continue in the position. They did it faster than it would have been in a real drama -- by Monday night they had already returned him to his position. The bluff ended at the same time as the evening news.

The way both sides have carried on is embarrassing. Yosef's daughter, Adina Bar-Shalom, who had intended to run in Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu list, burst into tears on her father's grave on Monday in Deri's service. Is this politics? It takes place in a cemetery and treats a man who has passed away as though he is still leading the party day-to-day. And soon enough Shas will compete with Yahad Haam Itanu to see who can produce the most superstitious amulets.

At its foundation, this is not just some kind of fistfight between Deri and Yishai, rather it is an attempt for the House of Yosef to maintain its centrality in the Sephardi-haredi community's public life and in the struggle between two groups of rabbis for control over the street and the party.

There is only one real benefit that has come out of this embarrassing piece of theater: Shas and Yahad Haam Itanu's joint number of seats in the next Knesset will shrink.

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