ISRAEL-POLITICS Head of religious party in Israel resigns before election

Record ID: 401054

  • Title: ISRAEL-POLITICS Head of religious party in Israel resigns before election
  • Date: 30th December 2014
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (FILE - 1999) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS DERI LEAVING COURTROOM SURROUNDED BY TIGHT SECURITY AFTER BEING CONVICTED OF TAKING BRIBE RAMLA, ISRAEL (FILE - 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DERI, SURROUNDED BY POLICE, WALKING TOWARDS PRISON DOOR DERI ENTERING PRISON AS POLICE STRUGGLE TO SHUT DOOR
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9UUP0NXX9VTNWBO8LUIMUU88P
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT CONTAINS VIDEO WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    The leader of Israel's largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish party resigned from parliament on Tuesday (December 30), throwing the faction into crisis and adding another twist in the run-up to an election on March 17.
    The Shas party - which transformed an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern heritage into a powerful political force - has been a kingmaker of coalition governments for years, though it currently sits in the opposition with just 11 of the 120 seats in parliament.
    Shas has been torn by rivalries since the death of its founder, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, in October 2013.
    After party head Aryeh Deri handed in his resignation letter, most other Shas lawmakers said they would follow suit.
    "We ask to give up our mission if, God forbid, the request (to resign) by the head of the movement is accepted," Shas lawmaker Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen told reporters.
    The move added another degree of uncertainty to an already complicated electoral picture in which a center-left bloc is neck-in-neck in opinion polls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party.
    Post-election coalition deals will determine who will lead the country, and parties like Shas will play a key role.
    Known in Israel for his quick wit and charm, Deri returned to politics in 2012 after a 13-year absence that included jail time.
    He was appointed interior minister in 1988, becoming Israel's youngest ever cabinet member at the age of 29.
    Deri joined Yitzhak Rabin's government in 1992 and his party gave crucial backing to the late Labor leader when he sought parliamentary approval for the Oslo peace accord Israel signed with the Palestinians in 1993.
    But Deri's downfall began soon after, when the Supreme Court ordered him to resign from the cabinet in 1993 over corruption charges. He stayed on as Shas leader until 1999 when he was sentenced to three years in prison for taking bribes.
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