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Why did Shas Minister skip groundbreaking of Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem?
By Mazal Mualem
Tags: Jerusalem, Shas, Mitchell 

Interior Minister Eli Yishai opted not to attend last week's cornerstone ceremony for a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, despite pressure from rightist MKs. The Shas chairman knows his presence at such an event, at a time when Jerusalem is at boiling point, would be praised by the right but could fan the flames in the city and damage the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of U.S. envoy George Mitchell's visit.

Netanyahu did not need to persuade Yishai; Yishai, as part of the renewed alliance between Likud and Shas, is actively helping to stabilize the government.

Yishai seems to view Netanyahu as a wise, tough captain of the ship of state, recently calling him "one of our most experienced people." Yishai maintains that there is no partner for negotiations on the Palestinian side and, like Netanyahu, favors an "economic peace" with them. Shas officials are happy with Netanyahu's refusal to concede on building in the settlements, seeing it as proof of their influence.
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In other matters too, Yishai has reason to be happy with Shas' position, from the restoration of cuts in child allowances to his own very senior cabinet position. The latter was demonstrated by Yishai's inclusion in the forum of senior ministers.

With an indictment is hovering above Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a divided Labor and the Likud rebels ready to spring a surprise at any moment, Shas is Netanyahu's most stable and loyal coalition ally.

In Netanyahu's second term as prime minister Shas is enjoying a second Golden Age, comparable to the era under the party's founder, Aryeh Deri. Yishai's supporters say that unlike Deri, believed to be a political genius but mostly good at making noise, Yishai quietly succeeded in returning Netanyahu to power. This is not far from the truth: Yishai took a gamble just one year ago when he convinced the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to turn down the offer of partnership with Tzipi Livni. Livni failed to form a government after winning the Kadima primary. That was the epitome of the cooperation between Shas and Netanyahu, which began months earlier.

Netanyahu worked hard to regain the trust of Yosef, who considered him directly responsible for the cuts in child allowances. Now Netanyahu is making great efforts to bolster Yishai's position in the government.


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