NO, THANKS: Deri Rejects Knesset’s Offer for Personal Security Amid Escalating Harassment Over Draft Bill
Against the backdrop of intensifying attacks from extremist factions within the chareidi community, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has turned down an offer from the Knesset to assign him personal security guards. The proposal was made following repeated incidents targeting Deri and other chareidi lawmakers over their support for advancing the Giyus Law (conscription legislation).
According to a report aired Sunday evening on Kan News, Deri declined the Knesset’s offer for enhanced protection despite multiple recent confrontations, including heated protests held against him even on Shabbos. Sources confirmed that both the Knesset and Deri’s office refused to comment on the matter.
Just a day earlier, Shas MK Yoav Ben-Tzur was attacked in Yerushalayim when demonstrators smashed the window of his vehicle. The Shas party issued a statement condemning the incident, saying: “We strongly denounce the serious attack carried out this evening in Yerushalayim by a small group of rioters. Such violent actions, which lead to chillul Hashem, are not the way of the Torah and do not represent any God-fearing community.”
Earlier this evening, a letter was revealed from former Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef sharply rebuking the protesters who assaulted MK Ben-Tzur after his weekly shiur at the Yazdim shul in Yerushalayim. In his letter, Rav Yosef also condemned those leading the aggressive public campaign against Deri, while fully backing the committee of roshei yeshiva currently working on drafting the Giyus Law proposal.
“The instigators who spread slander and falsehood against public representatives are the same individuals who have sown division within the chareidi community for decades and who persecuted my father, Maran zt”l, during his lifetime,” wrote Rav Yosef. “It is clear that their intentions are not for the sake of Heaven, and one must distance themselves from them and their harmful ways.”
Addressing the ongoing legislative discussions, Rav Yosef added: “We have already expressed our position on regulating the status of bnei yeshiva. Everything has been entrusted to the special committee appointed by the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, which is carrying out its task faithfully and ensuring that the integrity of the Torah world is safeguarded.”
{Matzav.com}