Deri and Yishai
Deri and YishaiAharon Vahab, Hadashot 24

For the first time in a year, Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri and the party’s former chairman, MK Eli Yishai, held a one-on-one meeting on Tuesday evening.

The two met in Bnei Brak for over an hour. Sources in the party said that Deri and Yishai, whose relationship has been tense since Deri returned to Shas before the last elections, agreed to put their differences aside and work together.

The rivalry between Yishai and Deri goes back a long time and began when Yishai took over as leader of Shas while Deri was serving time in prison over corruption charges.

The two were appointed as co-chairs of the party, along with MK Ariel Atias, before the last elections, but the Council of Torah Sages, then headed by the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, later ruled that Deri will be Shas chairman, further fueling the conflict between the two.

The long-standing rivalry between the two resurfaced after Rabbi Yosef’s death, when Yishai was reportedly advised against attending the rabbi’s memorial service, due to political pressures from Deri.

Last week, Deri publicly turned to Yishai, asking him to put behind the tense relations behind them.

“Eli, we want to work together with you, you are the most senior partner we have and I have trust in you and want to continue working with you,” Deri said, adding, “I ask you to give us the chance to work together. You know that this is the best interest of the movement.”