|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
JERUSALEM (May 18) - There was depression, and then there was elation. The boos greeting Ehud Barak's landslide victory had hardly subsided when the television screens at Shas headquarters flashed the results of Knesset voting: 15 seats for Shas, according to Channel 1's exit poll. The Sephardi haredi party, which some thought had been dealt a death blow with the conviction of its leader Aryeh Deri on bribery charges just two months ago, had come out one of the biggest winners of the 1999 elections, increasing its representation by 50 percent, according to the exit polls. "We won! We won the state!" one eager activist cried, as the room exploded in pandemonium. "We may be rabble, but now you see how strong the rabble is." Party supporters danced on their chairs as festive music blared from speakers. Soon the crowded hall resembled a religious gathering as several of the flimsy plastic chairs splintered under the weight of the revelers and sent the dancers flailing into their neighbors. Then came the moment of truth, the sea of heads parting as Deri entered on the shoulders of his supporters, his black velvet yarmulke almost grazing the ceiling tiles. "One and two months ago we had sad events in this hall," Deri said, referring to his conviction and sentencing. "Then we didn't know what would come in their wake. But despite all those who wanted to crush us, today the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us power." Interrupted by furious cries of "He's innocent!" and the Shas anthem, Deri, flashing the party's trademark hand signal, said the elections demonstrated above all the nation's need for "unity and love." When supporters broke into powerful chants of "Shas control!" - a reference to Yisrael Ba'aliya's calls in the campaign to wrest the Interior Ministry from Shas - Deri quieted them, saying, "Let's forget all those disagreements." With Barak having pledged not to negotiate with Shas as long as Deri heads the party, some have speculated that Deri will resign. Interior and Religious Affairs Minister Eliahu Suissa and Rabbi David Yosef have been mentioned as possible successors. Though it lasted only a fraction of a second, perhaps the most symbolic moment of the evening occurred when a cherub-faced Suissa entered the hall and tried to rise on the shoulders of supporters next to Deri, almost knocking Deri from his perch. Volunteer Rafael Peretz, however, predicted the party's strong showing would force Barak to go back on his word. "When people saw how the secular parties wanted to chase Judaism out of Israel, they didn't sit and take it. They went out and worked hard," said Peretz, a Jerusalem repairman. "Barak will have to come to us on all fours now." Deri then took the victory celebration to the home of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, while other party leaders and activists sought to come to grips with the import of the results. Yaffa Deri said the results were a vindication of her husband, an analysis seconded by MK Yitzhak Cohen. "It's a definite vote of confidence in Aryeh Deri and in the spiritual leadership of Ovadia Yosef," Cohen said. "We expected to maintain our strength and here we've ended up with 15 mandates. I don't think there's any prime minister that can ignore a movement of this size." Moshe Nimni, a confidante of kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, predicted that the party would end up with 17 or 18 mandates in the final vote count. Around him, jubilant activists said the results showed the righteousness of Shas's cause. "Our is a movement that can't be stopped. Every time we'll have a bigger and bigger percentage," said Avraham Hassid, election coordinator for the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. "This shows, blessed be God, that the nation wants religion. All Jews, whether they have a kippa on their head or a ponytail or an earring, it's all the same to us. We want to bring them all back to religion."
Links in this section:
Links to other sections: | |
|
Click here for feedback and comments. © 1999, The Jerusalem Post - All rights reserved 
| |
