MK Michael Malkieli, head of the Shas faction in the Knesset, made clear on Wednesday that it will be impossible to separate the Shas movement from its leader, Aryeh Deri.
On Tuesday, Deri was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, along with a fine of 180,000 shekels, as part of a plea bargain which he had signed. The plea bargain also stipulates that Deri is forced to resign from the Knesset.
"No organization or movement will remove Aryeh Deri from the leadership of Shas. We will follow him like soldiers, through thick and thin, and we will receive instructions from him," Malkieli said on Wednesday, noting that both at the press conference and in court, it was clarified that Deri will continue to serve as chairman of the Shas movement, despite having to resign from the Knesset.
"I would suggest to the Movement for the Quality of Government that they look into this messy government, the tax increases, the harsh cruelty towards the weakest parts of society, to look into whether Bennett is really fit to be Prime Minister, whether Liberman, who is cruel and detached, is fit to be Finance Minister? Look into it," he added.
Asked whether, in his opinion, the attitude towards Deri is motivated by him being of Sephardic origins, MK Malkieli stated that if his name had not been Aryeh Makhlouf Deri, things would have ended differently.