What to Do About Shas Obsesses Israelis

As negotiators for Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak began talks Monday with potential partners in a coalition government, pressure mounted on him to exclude the powerful religious party Shas.

“Just Not Shas!” was the message on more than 20,000 e-mails that have flooded into Barak’s Tel Aviv office in recent days, staff members said, as voters have appealed to the newly elected Israeli leader to keep Shas in opposition.

At a rally Sunday to celebrate Barak’s May 17 victory over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hundreds of campaign workers chanted the anti-Shas slogan again and again. And a hang glider hovered briefly near Barak’s home over the weekend to deliver the same message from above: “Rach Lo Shas!” written in large Hebrew letters on the glider.

But many other Israelis, even from the secular far left, are urging Barak to draw Shas into a government designed to be as broadly inclusive as possible.

“Shas must be part of Barak’s government,” argued Uri Avnery, a veteran Israeli peace activist and former parliament member. “The party is in favor of peace with the Arabs, and our main thought now must be how to advance the peace.”

On Monday, representatives for Barak held preliminary talks with four parties that would be his most natural coalition partner--allies from the political left and center and others that stayed neutral during the bitter five-month campaign. Those meetings will be followed this morning by talks with the three Arab parties elected to parliament, then later in the day with Shas and Netanyahu’s Likud Party. Two religious parties will meet with Barak’s representatives Wednesday.

As consultations over the new government began, an aide to Israel’s current leader, Netanyahu, said the prime minister has decided to resign from parliament and quit politics.

Spokesman David Bar-Illan said Netanyahu will make the announcement at a meeting of the party central committee Thursday. BarIllan said he did not know the prime minister’s plans, other than that he is considering writing a book. Netanyahu will remain in office until Barak forms a government.

Officials from Barak’s Labor Party said each potential partner in the government is being asked to accept a 10-point program that stresses domestic issues and takes a tough line on negotiations with the Palestinians. The plan sets security and the fight against terrorism as the new government’s top priorities, a stance that may appeal to right-wing parties, analysts said.

Barak has until July to put together a government, and he may decide not to make an announcement of who’s in and who’s out for several weeks. When he does, the Arab parties, the hard-right National Union and at least one of the religious parties are considered likely to be out; either Shas or Likud is likely to be in, along with the centrist and leftist parties.

But as the negotiations get underway, what to do about Shas presents perhaps the most difficult dilemma for Barak, who promised voters that he would unify this badly divided nation but also vowed to bring about change, including progress in the stalled Middle East peace process.

And the question is causing the most heated reaction from politicians, press and public. “The battle is against Shas,” read one headline in Sunday’s Haaretz newspaper. “Shas is not a leper,” responded another, over an op-ed column, Monday.

Shas, a party whose supporters include mainly Sephardic Jew--those of Middle Eastern and North African origi--would seem a likely partner for Barak. Its leadership is historically dovish, and its constituency includes thousands of Israeli have-nots whose support may be crucial if Barak is to close the yawning rifts in Israeli society.

The party is also the third-strongest in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset. It grew by 70% in the election, jumping from 10 to 17 seats and nearly overtaking Likud, which dropped to 19 places.

But Shas’ charismatic political leader, Aryeh Deri, once a maker and breaker of coalitions, was convicted of bribery recently and faces a four-year prison term. Many Israelis also have been repelled by Shas’ decision to build its campaign around a vehement defense of Deri and a head-on assault on the Israeli court system and other democratic institutions.

Last week, Deri resigned from the Knesset but said he would continue to run the Shas social organization of schools and seminaries. Barak has sworn he will not negotiate with Shas until Deri is completely out of politics, and two extremely secular parties insist that they will not join the Barak government if Shas is included.

“We reject Shas as it is because it is absolutely and totally identified with Aryeh Deri,” said Ran Cohen of the Meretz Party, which won 10 seats. “Its whole election campaign was a slap, if not a fist, in the face of the rule of law.”

Those favoring Shas over Likud point to its willingness to trade land for peace and its historical support for peace agreements.

But Barak could well decide to include Likud in a national unity government, a prospect that has leaders of the devastated center-right party divided. Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, who is acting head of the party, has asked Likud officials not to debate the idea in public.