Deri: left-wing has declared war on God, Judaism

 In his latest offering of doomsday prophecies for the future of Judaism in the Jewish state, Shas chairman and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said on Saturday night that a war is being waged against God and Judaism by the left-wing and centrist parties which say they will not sit in a government with the ultra-Orthodox political factions.

Speaking at an election rally in the Yazd Synagogue in Jerusalem, Deri recalled that during the last election on April 9 there had been concerns Shas would fall below the 3.25% electoral threshold and fail to make it into the Knesset, but said that the “danger” was now greater since Judaism itself was under threat.

“Today the danger is much greater than what it was three and a half months ago when we had no doubt that the rule of the Right, the religious-Zionists and the ultra-Orthodox would continue,” said Deri.

“Right now, the danger is for the Shas movement but against all of Judaism in Israel and around the world, they have declared war against us, against God, against Judaism and everything connected to it,” he declared.

Deri sought to scare ultra-Orthodox voters further by saying that according to the polls the right-wing no longer has a majority and that the left-wing is likely to get the chance to establish the next government.

Polls indicate however that the center left has virtually no chance of establishing a government by itself, since Blue and White together with the left-wing parties are polling near 40%, not including the Joint List of Arab parties who will almost certainly not join a government.

“God forbid if these polls turn out to be true the mandate to establish the government will pass to the left-wing. To a government that has declared war against Judaism.”

Deri also complained that when incitement is made by public figures against the Arab sector President Reuven Rivlin condemns it, but said that no one condemns political parties “when Judaism is ruled out, when traditional people in the State of Israel are ruled out.”

Deri was referencing the pledges of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman and Blue and White co-chair Benny Gantz that they will only agree to a national unity government without the ultra-Orthodox and religious-Zionist political parties.