Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s Camp Reportedly Plans to Curb Deri’s Authority in Shas

Figures close to Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef are reportedly planning to seek changes that would reduce Aryeh Deri’s authority as Shas chairman and strengthen the party’s rabbinical leadership. The proposed steps were disclosed on Wednesday evening, October 28, after preliminary election results showed a substantial decline from the party’s 11 outgoing Knesset seats. The first demand under consideration is to convene Shas’s Council of Torah Sages to discuss the party’s election performance. Rabbi Yosef would subsequently be expected to seek formal appointment as president of the council. The reported sequence concerns prospective demands by his circle; it does not establish that the council has met or that a presidential appointment has been made. People in Rabbi Yosef’s circle reportedly argue that Deri’s attempt to appeal simultaneously to traditional Zionist voters and Haredi voters did not succeed. That explanation is their assessment of the election campaign, rather than an established account of why voters made their choices. The reported initiative follows longstanding tension between Rabbi Yosef and Deri, despite a reconciliation before the election. It centers on the balance of authority between the party chairman and its rabbinical leadership. No completed leadership change was reported, and the account carried no on-record response from Deri.