Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on Tuesday attacked the Blue and White Knesset list, headed by Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, during a speech at a Shas election rally in the southern Israeli city of Ofakim.
In his remarks, Deri slammed the party for abandoning the outlying areas of Israel, saying, "Last week something happened in Israel, they established a party in Ramat Aviv and in a villa in Savyon (a local council in Central Israel considered one of the wealthiest municipalities in the country -ed.)."
"Not in Ofakim, not in Netivot and not in Kiryat Shmona. They do not care about the periphery," added Deri. "Lapid, in a connection made in northern Tel Aviv, could be a prime minister in Israel. Does anyone understand the meaning here?"
Later Deri referred specifically to the members of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party who are on the list. "Forget the beautiful words you will hear from Lapid’s people this month that ‘we love the haredim’. All the people here know how much the members of Yesh Atid harmed and fought Judaism," he said
"They will turn the Sabbath into another ordinary day," Deri warned. "Lawyers will have to work on Shabbat and Lapid will divide the Kotel in two."