Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri on Monday launched a particularly sharp attack against the opposition amid the protests against the judicial reform.
"We could not have imagined what is being done here – this is audacity and is a crime. They harmed the economy, the relations with the US and the countries of the world, harmed the security and the army, and all in order to overthrow the government. We didn't take that into account. We thought there was a border and red lines," Deri said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai.
The public relations campaign on the reform was nonexistent and this harmed the government, he continued. "We should have prepared for this like for an election campaign. They raised millions and invested in advertising and financing protests. We brought together the entire opposition that was fragmented."
When asked why he decided to give up on the "Deri 2 Law", which would have prevented the Supreme Court from intervening in ministerial appointments, he replied, "It was my decision, I am taking responsibility. Netanyahu and Levin agreed to continue. It is clear to me that this law would have had a majority of 64, but I decided to wait because if we hold back, we could create an atmosphere of trust, and the second thing is that in this atmosphere, who guarantees that the court will not strike it down?"
Deri stated that judicial reform is the order of the day.
"Yariv Levin's great achievement is that today everyone already agrees that [the legal system] needs to be fixed, after they previously said that the system is perfect and should not be touched. However, there are differences of opinion on the details. The outline presented by the President the second time was far from what was agreed upon with us," he said.
Deri added that despite the importance of the issue, the haredi parties agreed to enter into negotiations for a compromise. "We consulted all the time with the great sages. They said that, on this issue, the haredim should not be in the front. They said to support the Prime Minister's decision to suspend the legislation."