How did the President's House announce: Aryeh Deri will join the visit to Tel Aviv?

August 16, 2015   

President Reuven Rubi Rivlin opened the school year in Haredi education this morning (Sunday), at 11:00 AM, with a visit to the Talmud Torah 'Divrot Moshe' in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem. The President was accompanied on his visit by Mayor Nir Barkat, his deputy Zvika Cohen of the Shas Party, City Council member Nachmaniel Saban, and CEO of Maayan Torah Education Haim Biton. The President's Office statement prior to the visit stated that "the President will meet with first-grade students and attend their first lesson. The President will then visit the seventh grade, listen to the school choir, and greet the school's 300 students.". The announcement also said: "Mayor Nir Barkat and Economy Minister Aryeh Deri will also participate in the visit.". But in the office of Aryeh Deri, who was conducting tours of the building this morning,At the 'Ora Rama' School and the 'For My Brothers' School, The Shas leaders in Jerusalem knew nothing about it. ""Deri will not participate in the president's visit," his office said. "He was not supposed to join either. "Aryeh has a government meeting at this time and there was no way we would join him when the president arrives." The president's office responded: "This is what Deri's office told the organizers at the municipality." A senior official at the Jerusalem municipality said in response: "We did not include Deri on the list of participants.". • So the President's Office spokesperson is lying? "Yes." The President's Office spokesperson: "It can be assumed that we do not initiate the participation of politicians in the president's visits. The municipality said he would come - so I included it in the announcement. In any case, the CEO of El Ha'ayan is joining.". The President's Tradition President Rivlin sought to make visits to Haredi schools at the start of the school year a tradition: On the first of Elul last year, at the beginning of his term, President Rivlin opened the school year for Haredi students in Beit Shemesh, and therefore this year the President also sought to open the school year in the Haredi sector in Beit Shemesh. However, this year the President's Office encountered difficulties in organizing the visit. Initially, the plan was to open the school year with a visit to the Haredi school 'Kehilot Yaakov' in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem. However, last week the school informed the President, through the Jerusalem Municipality, that the visit was canceled and that the tour planned by the President's Office would not take place. According to sources in the Jerusalem Municipality, the official reason for the cancellation was "rabbinical pressure", and this was in light of the condemnations voiced by the President of the State after the attack in the village of Duma, in which a father and his one and a half year old son were killed. The President's Office responded by saying that the cancellation was received with regret and that they can only hope that the lesson on the topic of free love in Tel Aviv will be well-attended. The President's Office also contacted the Bnei Brak municipality, but no help came from there either. The Bnei Brak municipality confirmed that the president did indeed request to visit the city, but that this was not possible due to the schedule. "The municipality responded positively," the Bnei Brak municipality said, "The plan did not go ahead, because, in the end, the date did not match up between the president's office and the mayor's office." Sources in the Bnei Brak municipality hinted that 'schedule issues' were merely an 'excuse' to postpone the visit, which was initially agreed upon. Sources from the president's office said that they wanted to look into additional options, but these were also not possible from the municipality's perspective. However, the president's office promised last week: "The president will open the school year with Talmud Torah..." which is indeed happening this morning.