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."

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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.

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We are currently facing fateful elections for the State of Israel, as alongside the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis it triggered, we are waging an important campaign for the character of the State of Israel.

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Will Israel maintain a Jewish character that preserves Jewish values, Shabbat, tradition, kosher, and state conversion, or will it turn into a state of all its citizens – devoid of the character of Judaism, Shabbat and tradition? A state that accepts Reform conversions and causes irreversible damage to the Jewish people in the Land of Israel?

Another issue that must be addressed while we deal with the coronavirus pandemic is the economy: Israel is looking at a time when it will have to repay state loans amounting to billions of shekels.

I feat that without a powerful Shas in the Knesset, the lower socioeconomic echelons would be the ones that are made to pay – the ones Shas has been looking out for over the past 40 years – just as was the case in the 2003 recession, when social security benefits were drastically cut.

Shas vows to support solely Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister. Shas envisioned and established the right-wing bloc to protect the interests of its members under Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership, and unlike the other parties and the Likud – whose members have defected from the bloc – Shas members do not zigzag.

A vote for Shas is a 100% vote for a government headed by Netanyahu.

Therefore, those who seek to see Netanyahu as prime minister and at the same time brace Judaism, tradition, the Jewish character of the state, and the protection of the weak, while following the teachings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef should vote for Shas.

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I call you, my friends, go out and vote. Go vote and take everyone you know with you. This is the time.

A vote for Shas assures we maintain our tradition. As Shas chairman, I can pledge to you that, just as I established the right-wing bloc that protected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and prevented the formation of a left-wing government with Yisrael Beytenu and the support of the Arab parties, so I will continue to be vigilant.

A vote for Shas is like voting with two ballots – for Netanyahu as prime minister and for Shas, who maintains and will continue to maintain the Jewish nature of Israel.

This is a historic time for the people of Israel and we must all rally together.

Throughout my political career, I have chosen social portfolios. I also appropriated coalition funds to decrease water and public transport prices and subsidize summer camps for the disadvantaged, alongside working tirelessly as a member of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet.

This is the will of my mentor, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who founded Shas. That was his decree to me: Defend Israel's security, protect the people of Israel, keep IDF soldiers safe, care for the weak, and preserve Judaism and our tradition.

For this I work, night and day: For the people of Israel, for Judaism, for tradition, for Netanyahu, for the right-wing bloc, for the land of Israel, and for the future of our children.

For these, there is only one right ballot to cast - Shas.

The post Shas leader: We must maintain our Jewish values appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.