Journalist Amit Segal revealed the probe into Shas leader Aryeh Deri in a Channel 2 report, and Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mendelblit deviated from his predecessor Yehuda Weinstein's tendency to address such matters through bureaucracy, and the old chorus from 16 years ago was resurrected to cry out on Deri's behalf as if he was the victim of ethic discrimination. That was ridiculous the first time and it is baseless this time, too. History doesn't repeat itself exactly. In 2016, Deri is holding off from claiming he is the victim of an investigation that was opened on a whim because of his Sephardi descent. He has also promised he won't avail himself of the right to remain silent again, and mainly, that he is innocent until proven otherwise, and even the police and the State Prosecutor haven't yet decided whether there is an actual crime here, or a baseless complaint. But the cry of Sephardi-hood echoes, gaining traction with some of the public and the media. Does the state prosecutor hound Jews from Arab countries? Nothing of the sort. If so, what would Ehud Olmert, Danny Dankner, Danny Cohen and Avigdor Kelner (all of Ashkenazi descent) be doing in prison if that were the case? Or Avraham Hirschson, who served 65 months (reduced by a third), or Omri Sharon and Haim Ramon? And how were things eased for Nochi Dankner, who is waiting for the verdict in his case? Nonsense. It is also being hinted that the media is treating Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) more sympathetically than Deri. Wrong, but there is a difference. What Herzog is suspected of is less severe, although bad enough; Mendelblit still hasn't decided whether to open a criminal investigation against him; and he hasn't been convicted of any crime in the past. Nevertheless, depending on how the probe and any eventual investigation develop, the media won't go easy on Herzog. When it comes down to it, Deri's supporters (he, as we mentioned, disagrees) are no different from any other public figures who are the subjects of investigations or are accused or convicted of crimes. They always claim that the prosecution is persecuting them for political reasons, that the prosecution wants to shove them out of the way, and there are lawyers who are willing to repeat that deception, including some who are familiar with the prosecution and understand that there's nothing to it. This isn't to say that the prosecution has never made wrong decisions. Weinstein's decision to close the case against Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman is addressed in a book by attorney Avia Alef, who put together the case against Lieberman and who pointed out the key mistake. But what Deri's chorus is hinting, although he is distancing himself from it, is baseless. No ethnic cases are being cooked up.
