The Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah of Shas forbids Aryeh Deri from stepping down

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri will remain at the helm of the party after the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah ruled that he may not leave his post.

The Moetzes heard Deri’s request to step down and turned it down. Its decision was laid out in a letter first published in the Shas-affiliated newspaper HaDerech.

The letter praised Deri’s work and said that at this time, “the most experienced general is needed to lead the campaign.” It went on: “The Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah strengthens the hands of the movement’s chairman, Harav Rabbi Aryeh Deri, and forbids him from leaving his position in the movement, and it is presumed that he will do the will of the Sages, as he always has.”

The Moetzes also set out the party’s top priority. It said Shas will work first and foremost to settle the status of those who learn Torah and to end what it called “their persecution.”

Deri said he would comply. “All the days of my life, I was raised and educated on obedience to Daas Torah, and that is how I have acted throughout all my years of public service,” he said. “When I received today the absolute instruction of Maranan V’Rabanan, the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah Shlita, I accept it without hesitation and without doubt.”

He also announced that tomorrow he will call a faction meeting of the party’s Knesset members and its senior local council representatives. He said the goal is “to gird our loins, learn the lessons, and move the movement forward.”

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