About six months ago, several days before the end of Benjamin Netanyahu's term, right-wing leaders came to me insisting they did not want to be part of another coalition under his leadership, and suggested that I bring the political crisis to an end by becoming prime minister for a year.
My immediate answer was, "No, thank you."
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
It was a decision that stemmed from my respect for democracy, will of the voters, and love for Israel. As someone who only had nine seats in the Knesset – a third of what Likud won – I thought that my becoming prime minister would go against the will of the voters. It was clear to me that the public had chosen the Likud and Netanyahu.
At the time, I thought my fellow lawmakers shared the same respect for voters, but by now we know, that was not the case. Now-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid managed to create a coalition with a combined number of mandates fewer than what Netanyahu won. As such, they created an illegitimate government that went against the will of the people.
Now, imagine if I had done that. Imagine if, at the time, I agreed to become prime minister. The media would have blown its top.
Again we see that they are allowed to do what we are not.
And if that wasn't enough, it seems that this government has set out to destroy the very foundations of the State of Israel: Judaism and democracy. I have always said that the party I lead, Shas, is the guardian of Judaism in the country, and I was right.
The current government obsessively promotes laws and reforms whose very purpose is to undermine the state's Jewish character.
Take, for example, the kashrut reform. Besides undermining Judaism and rabbinical institutions, it also harms traditional Israelis and business owners, because kashrut licenses will now cost an arm and a leg.
Traditional Israelis, for whom it is important to keep the basic kashrut rules, will now have to decide whether they want to buy products certified by a private corporation, and God forbid, bring unkosher food into their home, or pay more and get products licensed by the more stringent higher rabbinical court.
The late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founder and spiritual leader of Shas, called Bennett's party "a house of gentiles" already in 2013. Time has proven that his words were prophetic.
Do I, Aryeh Deri, a student of Torah yeshivas, need to teach Bennett about democracy? Or New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar who is going against the very will of the people and is pushing for a bill that would prevent Netanyahu, the only person entitled to the premiership, from ever taking office again?
And the Coronavirus Cabinet? As a government minister, who played a key role in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, I can attest that the discussions of the committee are crucial and have a direct impact on people's lives.
Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman's absence from these meetings is lawlessness at its best. I have never encountered such blatant contempt for the public and evasion of responsibility by elected officials.
And worst of all, when the morbidity was record-high, the Coronavirus Cabinet stalled for two weeks before it convened for a meeting, with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz being absent from most of it. If former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Yisrael party acted this way, we would never have heard the end of it from the media.
As both Judaism and democracy are in real danger, with government funds being allocated elsewhere, we see that there is no more criticism. Because what they can do, we and most Israelis are not allowed.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
