reports have it that Eli Yishai is once again negotiating to give his support to a political party in exchange for a ministerial appointment.

The other day, Shas reps met with Rav mazuz in an effort to obtain his support but when he insisted on Eli Yishai being involved Shas decided to forgo any further talks.

So Eli Yishai is now talking to UTJ about throwing his support to UTJ, as he did last elections. Yishai claims they had an agreement last time that if UTJ would achieve 8 seats, Yishai would be appointed as minister. They got the 8 seats, with Yishai's support (maybe or maybe not because of it), but no government was formed so nobody was appointed to any positions, though UTJ never explicitly admitted or confirmed such an agreement or that they would appoint him to such a position. Now Eli Yishai wants an explicit statement that they'll give him a ministerial position in exchange for support.

UTJ's response, for now, is basically that they are happy to have his support but have no intention of giving him any appointment from their allotment. To quote senior UTJ officials, "why should we have to give him any position? let Bibi give him something."

Well, the reason is because he is telling his supporters to support your party and give you an extra boost. If that isnt valuable to you, so don't make an agreement.

It is a funny thing to make an agreement, as if this is the normal way, where one side gives everything he has and the other gives nothing. He isnt negotiating with bibi, so why should Bibi give him anything. He is negotiating with UTJ, not Bibi, but they think they owe him nothing for his support and any job should come from Bibi rather than them. In the end Yishai will probably agree to it without anything in return, as he did last time, because he does not really have any options. It seems he has positioned himself in a way that nobody wants to be involved with him.

If UTJ tells him no in the end, I think he'd be smart to go to Otzma instead. To them he might actually be valuable, as he might push them over the threshold. And, with two of their main people disqualified, he could be valuable. And, while Bibi might not want classic Otzma people in his government because of their extreme positions and affiliations with Kahane and racism, he might be more willing to bring them in with Eli Yishai as their government representative (though I am sure Aryeh Deri will still try to veto it).

In Shas we are not busy dealing with other people's backyards, so we have not been in contact with the Peleg Yerushalmi people, unlike UTJ - they are dealing in other people's backyards rather than dealing with the thousands of votes abandoning them...

  -- MK Michael Malkieli (Shas), about the deal between Eli Yishai and UTJ

Haha. Malkieli said this this morning when just last night Shas announced they have met with a group of leading Chabad rabbonim and claim to have achieved Chabad support. Chabad was never in UTJ's pocket, and have in the past supported, unofficially because they officially don't get involved openly, other parties, but Chabad is not Shas's backyard and is much closer to UTJ than Shas.

Also, perhaps Shas should talk to the Peleg people to save those votes, if they can possibly come to an agreement. UTJ is not in a position to do so. Just like Shas couldnt save ELi Yishai's votes, but UTJ could, UTJ cant save the Peleg's votes but maybe Shas can.

Shas believes they own certain communities and anybody taking votes from those communities is stealing them from Shas. Even though Shas could not win over Eli Yishai and probably not Yishai's voters, he still think only he has a right to campaign to them. This despite Shas's entire foundation having been base don originally "stealing" sefardi votes from UTJ (ie sefardi haredim), Likud (ie sefardi masoratim) and Mafdal (ie sefardi dati leumi). Deri today also confirmed and said that he told Netanyahu not to get involved with taking votes from Shas and not to give Yishai any promises of ministerial positions against the position of Shas.

Eli Yishai - Yachad dropping out of the race and throwing his support to UTJ can be massive.

UTJ was already pushing the seventh mandate. It was almost definite they would achieve it, possibly dependent on final turnout numbers. Now with Yachad and [many of] their supporters voting UTJ, they will definitely get the 7, and almost definitely even the 8th. Nobody really knows how much support Yachad and Eli Yishai actually have, and the numbers form last time are definitely not accurate for this election, as many of his supporters from back then will have moved on to other parties by now, but surely he has a nice amount. The question is basically if this will get them 8 or 9 mandates.

That is massive for UTJ.

And it is a big hit for Shas. Many past Shas voters have already been planning to vote UTJ anyway. Many past Shas voters are searching for other parties, such as Zehut, Otzma Yehudit, Likud, and probably others as well. That's why Shas is hovering around 4 mandates in all the polls. If this move by Yachad towards UTJ pulls another several thousand voters away from Shas and to UTJ, that could be a big hit to Shas and might push them under the threshold for good.

Of course the polls always get Shas wrong anyway, even more than they get the rest of the parties wrong. So the polls saying Shas get 4 might actually be 6 or 7 and then Yachad brings them down to 4 or 5. We cant really know, but it is definitely a big hit to Shas.

This might save thousands of votes that would have been lost by Yachad not passing the threshold, but it might cause a hundred thousand or so votes for Shas to be thrown out if Shas doesnt get through because of this.

In the 11th hour Habayit Hayehudi and Eli Yishai's Yachad party nearly came to a deal to run together. Whatever happened at the last moment, it did not work out, and Yishai is running his party alone. I guess he isn't as responsible as Tzippi Livni...

I might add, that for somebody with so little to offer, he was pretty obstinate in his demands for power and influence. So he'll run alone and we'll see where he ends up...

Out of responsibility to the united [right wing]bloc, it is important that the votes of the students of Rav Mazuz will go to Shas, being very close to the minimum threshold.

  -- Spokesperson for Habayit Hayehudi, informing Eli Yishai that his merging into their party is now off the table

That's a very nice sentiment, but since Eli Yishai is not backing down, as of now, and will be running as an independent party, the votes of Rav Mazuz's students will [mostly] not go o Shas but will go to Yachad and will most likely be wasted. Thus, by not bringing Eli Yishai in, they are not helping Shas and they are allowing Yachad's votes to be wasted. They are not obligated to help Eli Yishai or Shas, but there is clearly no truth to what they are saying...

waking up this morning to the news of an agreement between Lapid and Gantz to merge the parties (with a rotation between them in the Prime Minister's seat, should they win, makes the election season much more interesting.

The biggest immediate effect and question raised, in my opinion, is about Eli Yishai.

Netanyahu went out on a limb yesterday and, as part of his continued efforts to avoid right wing parties from missing the minimum threshhold and wasting votes, after pushing Habayit Hayehudi and Otzma lYisrael to form a bloc, pushed Habayit Hayehudi to form a bloc or merge with Eli Yishai's Yachad party. They came to a tentative deal after Netanyahu made a generous offer promising extra ministerial positions, a senior government position for Eli Yishai, and a reserved spot in the Likud list for an additional candidate.

It looked like a tentative agreement was reached after Netanyahu's efforts, but then came the killer. Aryeh Deri responded negatively to the agreement and said that if Eli Yishai is given such a promise and merged with Habayit Hayehudi and offered a spot in the government, Shas will not recommend Netanyahu as PM to the President after the elections. All is good, but not with Eli Yishai in the picture.

Now, Habayit Hayehudi and Netanyahu have a problem. To continue with the deal or not? It won't even help, if Deri is not bluffing.

This morning's news of the Lapid-Gantz merger makes it even more complicated.

Now Deri has nobody else to recommend besides for Netanyahu. Gantz without Lapid was an option, but with Lapid it is not. So, if Habayit Hayehudi pulls in Eli Yishai, against the threats of Aryeh Deri, what does Deri choose - Netanyahu with Eli Yishai or Gantz with Lapid but no Eli Yishai? Can Habayit Hayehudi now clal his bluff and continue with the merger knowing Deri has no other option or do they drop Eli Yishai because Deri continues to veto that possibility?

Gideon Saar is the more interesting part of the show, and I am a fan of Saar. His interview begins at the 30 minute mark..unfortunately, this version of the clip gets cut off right before the end, as he talks about his relationship with Rav Chaim Kanievsky.

Ever since the Shas party has been teetering on the edge of the minimum threshold, former Shas leader Eli Yishai has been the demon and has been running unsuccessfully directly against Shas.

Despite the lack of success in the previous national elections, and then again in the most recent municipal elections, Eli Yishai is talking about running again in the upcoming national elections. He is also talking about trying to merge with Shas, if the right arrangement can be reached, though Shas sounds like they aren't interested.

I am not quite sure what Eli Yishai is trying to accomplish. Running on his own has already proven futile, and he has not made any arrangements to run on a joint ticket with another party list... so I do not know why he is about to put himself through this again. It might be time for him to start looking for another career, outside of politics. Until now I thought he was hanging around waiting for Aryeh Deri to be indicted and convicted so he himself can take over Shas again - though at this point it looks like even if that happens Shas will not take Eli Yishai back (though it could happen).

At this point I suspect that Eli Yishai is really a plant working on behalf of Shas.. By Eli Yishai running, it gives Shas a demon to attack, a target. They can whip up their people in a frenzy against the threat posed by Eli Yishai against Rav Ovadia Yosef. With Shas on the brink of not getting into the Knesset, this gives them something to rally around and to be motivated about to go vote and support their party.

It sounds far-fetched, but I don't see any other reason for Eli Yishai to hang around and run again, and to directly target Shas as his opponent.

There are rumors swirling due to the legal problems that Aryeh Deri is facing. Some are reporting that the Shas rabbinic leaders are preparing for the worst and are looking for Deri's replacement and have even spoken to Eli Yishai about him possibly returning to the mantle of Shas leadership. Others are reporting that the Shas rabbis are denying any such moves and claim that Deri is the leader and there is no other.

I obviously have no personal knowledge of what the Shas leadership is or is not doing, and will not speculate as to what is actually happening.

I will just ask, why Eli Yishai? The same question could have, or should have, been asked a couple of years ago about Deri - why Aryeh Deri?

is there nobody else for Shas to turn to? is there nobody else they can groom for leadership of the party? Are they unable to find anyone capable besides for Deri and Yishai? Deri is an ex-con, and might be a future-con. Did they have to give him the reigns again? They skewered Eli Yishai in the past - do they have to go back to him now? Is there nobody else they can turn to? What happened to the promising young Ariel Attias - is he unavailable? Even if he isn't available or doesnt want the job - is there nobody else? Do we have to just go back to the same two people over and over again?

I am in touch with senior Likudniks and it is very possible that there will be a political explosion in the upcoming elections..

  -- Eli Yishai

LOL
Eli Yishai, who couldn't get a significant number of votes when competing against a smallish party, is warning Netanyahu that Likudniks are going to bolt the Likud and join him in a party that will compete with the Likud. I'd like to hear his explanation as to why he thinks those senior Likudniks need him at all, and how he plans to do to Netanyahu what he could not do to Deri...

The next thing we'll see is Reform Jews putting tefillin on dogs and calling them up to the Torah.

  -- Eli Yishai

hard to believe we are going back to this argument.. I thought they were past this already...

and Shas's response was about Yishai's secret video production factory showing who he really is... is there anyone who doesn't think that every moment in Rav Ovadia's apartment was recorded from multiple angles, by the family for historical and financial purposes (to eventually put out books and clips and whatnot), along with for security reasons? I doubt Eli Yishai was behind any of the recordings, even if he has copies of some of the videos - it was all most likely done by the family with full knowledge of everyone in the house.

When Rav Dovid Yosef went on his diatribe yesterday against secular Jews and against Eli Yishai, I had two thoughts;
      1. I can't believe non-religious Jews actually continue voting for Shas, after Shas representatives have said such things repeatedly. And that they say these things and then Shas goes out with its team campaigning in non-religious areas...
      2. what an embarrassing and shameful thing to say about Eli Yishai. There are a lot of ways they can disagree. Rav Dovid can argue with Yachad. he can say many things about them. He can talk about how bad their policy ideas are, how unfaithful they are to his father, and even that they have brought amalek into their party by bringing in dati leumi people (who in their opinion are amalek).. but to talk about Eli Yishai not knowing how to read? shameful. Embarrassing.

Those were my thoughts.

Eventually I even expected Yishai to use it, perhaps not directly but through people close to him, to publicize how low Shas has gone. I did not expect a response. How can you respond to such an idiotic attack? Release a Youtube video of Eli Yishai reading from a book without nekudot? I thought better to just ignore it and let the Shasniks appear to be childish.

And sure enough this morning Rav Mazuz felt he had to respond. His response - Eli Yishai knows how to read even without nekudot.

Thank you for that clarification.

The only thing worse than the original childish and shameful attack is a childish and shameful response to it.

And now it is a machloket in metziut! I demand this be  resolved. Now that the response has been issued, the only way to resolve it is to check the reality - I demand Eli Yishai's people release a YouTube video of him reading without nekudot!

I recently asked somebody I know who has until now been "saruf" on Shas, i.e. was totally sold on Shas and completely dedicated to Shas, about voting in the coming elections.

He surprised me with his answer. He told me he might not vote at all - he might look for the Satmar headquarters that pays people to deposit their identity cards in exchange for $100.

That actually was not the surprising part. A lot of people are fed up; fed up with both the fact that we have elections and fed up with the parties that seem to just bicker and fight and not actually try to improve anything.

The surprising thing was the next part of what he said.

He said that if he votes at all he would vote for Eli Yishai's party, Yachad.

I was surprised and asked him to explain. I said I like Yishai's new party, and if I had to vote for a religious party, they probably would get that vote, but I know you, I said to him, and your family have been dedicated Shasniks - Rav Ovadia, Aryeh Deri, etc. I am shocked that you would vote for Eli Yishai.

He smiled and responded that he was dedicated to Shas when it was Rav Ovadia. Now that Rav Ovadia isnt alive, and Shas is Aryeh Deri - Deri is crooked and I won't vote for him.

I was surprised. Somebody I had no question about that he and his family would be Shas supporters have given that up and would vote for Yishai.

I know it is just one person, but if such a dedicated Shas-supporter would change like this because of the current situation in Shas, there must be many more, and maybe Yishai is really doing good work drawing support. He put together a good campaign on his message of unity of different sects of religious Judaism...

The one thing I am unsure of with Eli Yishai is that I have this suspicion that once he gets in on this ticket of unity of different Jews, he will end up voting in line perfectly, or almost so, with the Haredi position on issues n the Knesset. He will have taken his message of unity and turned it into just another Haredi party made up of voters from other communities (since there is no direct representation he does not really have anyone to answer to).

It is just my suspicion, but when I hear him talk on the radio, besides for his message of unity he talks about "bringing more votes from other communities"...and that makes me suspect he is either playing the public as if he isn't really a Haredi party or he just can't break the shackles and is doing it naturally while his partners don't realize this.


The latest campaign video for Yachad:

Yahad, the new party led by Eli Yishai, is coming to present itself in Bet Shemesh (in Hebrew). See below for details.

Even without supporting the party, it is always interesting to learn what a new party, a significant party, stands for...

if you have not yet heard the leaked video of Rav Ovadia talking about what he thinks of Aryeh Deri and how he does not want him to come back to lead Shas, here it is:



more interesting though than what he actually says about Deri is what it means in all its forms. The fact that the video exists, was recorded possibly without his knowledge, the clips that are being released in which he expresses the opposite opinions, that there are opposite clips that were also recorded, what it shows about how these askanim and rabbonim function where basically the rabbonim are forced or pressured to do and say what the askanim want. So, after saying all this, did Rav Ovadia really bring Deri back because he loves him so much and wanted to return the deposit to him or was he pressured to with threats? Did he say this because this is how he really felt or was he pressured to by Yishai? When he said the opposite was he pressured by someone?

If this is really a glimpse at the "behind the scenes" of how the rabbonim and askanim make their decisions, it is really sad.

and, as my friend Dani Waxman tweeted out today,

The most shocking part of the Shas tapes is that at about 7.5 minutes in there is a clear sound of a ringing iPhone.
— daniwaxman (@daniwaxman) December 29, 2014

He refers not to the clip above, but the one at http://www.kikar.co.il/159834.html

and so it begins.. a bus ad was defaced in Jerusalem almost immediately after it was put up.


No, it was not an advertisement with a depiction of a woman. It was an ad for Eli Yishai's new political party.

source: Ladaat

I am beginning to wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy going on regarding the splitting of Eli Yishai from Shas and the formation of his new party. My suspicion goes so far as to think that it was a planned split with the goal being an eventual merger of sorts, or some sort of agreement to work together at minimum, between Yishai's new party and Shas.

Over the past couple of days, I keep seeing Rav Mazuz, Eli Yishai's new "maran" and rabbinic council, talk about the new party not poaching voters, or targeting them, from Shas, but only from the Dati Leumi parties of Habayit Hayehudi and Tekuma. When the deal with Tekuma fell through, Yishai said he will next approach Ben Ari and Otzma people. Now Rav Lior and Rav Levanon are announcing their support for Eli Yishai, even though Tekuma is not moving over, as if they think they will have any say in what goes on over there.

If he is not taking away [much] from Shas, but only from the Dati Leumi, what is he really offering? Why does he want to lead a community that is not his? The only thing I can think of is that by doing this he will be bringing, or trying to bring, a bit more power and seats to the Haredi parties from communities that would not normally have voted for Yishai or Shas.. Shas could not attract them even under the best of conditions, but maybe the new Eli Yishai party can...

hmmmm