Former Shas leader and J'lem mayoral hopeful says Israel should invest in e. Jerusalem infrastructure.
By DAN IZENBERG, JERUSALEM POST STAFFaryeh deri 224.88 AJ(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Former Shas leader Aryeh Deri vowed Thursday to maintain the "status quo" in Jerusalem - opposing religious coercion, permitting the Gay Pride parade and keeping Palestinian forces out of east Jerusalem - if successful in his bid for the capital's mayoralty.
Far from ceding east Jerusalem to the Palestinians, he said in a Channel 2 interview, Israel should invest in the infrastructure there. It was "inconceivable" to contemplate Palestinian forces in Israel's capital, he said.
Deri, who cannot formally run for the office of mayor at present because the law bars anyone convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude from running for local office until seven years have passed from the end of the prison sentence, sounded confident that his candidacy would be approved.
He also said firmly there would not be two haredi candidates and that the politician with the better chance of being elected - whether it was he or rival Meir Porush - would wind up running.
He damned city council opposition leader Nir Barkat with faint praise, saying he envisioned Barkat as his deputy.
The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel appealed to President Shimon Peres on Thursday not to consider a request by Deri to shorten the length of time in which "moral turpitude" applied to the bribery and fraud crimes for which he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail.
Deri this week applied to Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin, who is chairman of the Central Elections Committee, for permission to run in the election. Rivlin, however, refused to deal with the matter, saying he was unauthorized to do so.
