1.
Let's start from the end.
These days, dozens of Sephardic daughters are sitting at home - and crying. The reason? They 'sinned' to be born to a grandmother who is 'unsuitable' in the eyes of the connoisseurs who run the seminars in Jerusalem and prefer granddaughters of Polish, Hungarian or other countries that give those born there the title 'Ashkenazi'.
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How does this happen in a city whose head, Moishe Leon, is a personal choice of Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri? How does this happen when Shas representative, Zvika Cohen, holds both the coveted title of deputy mayor and the finance portfolio, the central whip in front of the various administrators and departments? How does this happen when Shas holds the position of Haredi education director in the city?
Good questions. But it's better not to ask them. Because any attempt to answer will damage the nest, from which hornets will fly. And a lot of mud.
2.
To summarize the bottom line: A few days ago, Roni Dahan, Aryeh Deri's son-in-law, who was appointed by the Shas chairman to try and bring some order to the municipal faction in Jerusalem, decided to resign from his position.
Bad news for the crying students, if you ask.
During the local elections, Deri announced that he himself would take command of the Jerusalem Shas faction. Even then, it was clear that something bad was happening there, and the fact that Deri appointed himself to the position of managing a local faction spoke unfavorably of it.
But, as was clear from the start, the chairman of a national party cannot really meddle in the affairs of a local faction, no matter how big or important the city, and Deri soon installed his "long-term partner," his son-in-law, who has been trying since then until a few days ago to restore order, without success. It is important to emphasize that this is not his fault.
Dahan, an honest, hardworking and talented man, got into the thick of things, scheduled a meeting with all the parties and sub-parties, including those in conflict with each other (almost all of them), understood what was happening, drew conclusions and tried to act.
But then, the difficulties began to emerge. That is, someone made sure to pile them up - and in high piles.
A few days ago, he felt there was no way he could change anything, and he put the keys on the table. His father-in-law backed him up, assigning him a more senior position (which will be discussed in detail later).
And so, anyone who thought that frequent whispers in Deri's ear along the lines of "Your son-in-law did this and that" would help blacken his face will be disappointed when he realizes that his field has been upgraded.
3.
In the background, harsh allegations by the holder of the Haredi Education Administration portfolio in the municipality, Avraham Bezalel, against the director of the Haredi Education Department, Shmulik Greenberg (formerly a representative of Degel Hatorah in Beit Shemesh) in the saga of the placement of Sephardi girls in schools.
In the previous term, the person who held the Haredi Education Administration was Zvika Cohen (for the first time in the city's history, a Shas member held the portfolio), who brought about good achievements with the Ashkenazi seminary administrators (although there were also allegations against him, but they were from the league of 'never 100 percent satisfied'). With the ascension of Moshe Leon to the mayor's chair, Shas could have received everything good, including the education department, but it chose to give it up.
Why? So first of all, it may have been a mistake. Second, the Shas leaders believed that whoever holds the finance portfolio essentially controls everything that happens in the municipality. All they have to do is stop someone from signing a large check - and they will pressure administrators. The (logical, it must be said) insight that if Shas has the funds, it also has control over education led to a concession. What they did not take into account was the murky state of relations between the finance portfolio holder, Zvika Cohen, and the portfolio holder of the National Education Committee, Avraham Bezalel.
Thus, in essence, Bezalel found himself having to succeed in his role on his own, an impossible task. You can roar at the seminar directors, but as long as you don't have a whip in your hand - talk to the wall.
And because Avraham Bezalel's hands are tied, dozens of Sephardic girls sit crying - and the celebration is in full swing.
It's funny to expect that the director of the Haredi education department, an Ashkenazi from Degel, will be the one to do the work for Sephardi girls, when Shas holds the Haredi education administration portfolio. If the Sephardi delegation can't get along among itself, why should it complain about the Ashkenazi in the high position?
4.
When Roni Dahan tried to meet with all those involved, in order to get to the root of the problem and try to fix it, he encountered a wall of difficulties.
Want an example? Here it is.
Officially, Dahan's position is Director of Mayor Zvika Cohen's Office of the Mayor. This is the slot for paying his salary. In practice, his chair is also located in Zvika Cohen's office.
But one dark day he found his office door locked, after the lock had been changed. Sound familiar to you from another office in the capital? Right. The lock in the room of Rabbi Aryeh Stern, the Ashkenazi rabbi of the city of Jerusalem, was also recently changed, and there too it was part of the desire to see him 'get out.'.
The hint was understood. If the move angered Dahan's father-in-law, it was not given media expression. Aryeh preferred to remain silent and wait for the right moment. A few days ago, after the claims of Sephardic girls in Jerusalem were made public, and after he realized that those involved would not allow his son-in-law to do his job properly, he decided to allow him to retire.
Now, as the girls' cries grow louder, only the echo will answer them.
5.
By the way, the intrigues don't just concern the girls who are being discriminated against and the seminaries.
A source connected to the municipality tells me: "A director of an institution who comes to request allocations is told: If you talk to so-and-so... I won't help you. If I just hear that he's involved in the request, I won't handle it.".
What is the message conveyed by this? A muddy swamp and intrigue.
""After an article published about Roni Dahan in Yedioth Jerusalem - under the headline 'This is how Roni Dahan became the strong man of the Shas movement in Jerusalem' - the anger against him, that is, the jealousy, only grew and grew. Now we have even less sympathy for him.".
A faction meeting? Well, to convene a faction meeting in Jerusalem, you have to send an organized email to the members. In a conversation with one of the faction members, he says: "The messages don't go through the email in an organized manner, no one really has the desire to hold organized faction meetings, the chaos is celebrating. And you see, in the polls on the eve of the local elections, Shas fell from 5 seats to 3, that's the reason for all the changes Aria made. And what actually improved? Nothing.
""Even on advertising issues, there were differences of opinion. Ronny wanted changes, wanted advertisements to be transferred directly from the party to advertisers, wanted transparency on the issue – and essentially stepped on people who wanted something different. Who wanted to continue the way everything had been going until today.".
Two months ago, Roni came to his father-in-law and told him: Everyone's hand in everyone's, there are conflicts, I can't take it anymore. Deri asked him to wait a bit. A few days ago, the straw broke the groom's back.
In the background, two vacant and unfilled deputy division director positions: both for Education Resources Portfolio Holder Israel Kellerman and for Education Division Director Shmulik Greenberg. The deputies are supposed to be deputy heads of departments, but in a situation where no one has any interest in having anyone else fill the position - it simply remains vacant.
And what in the meantime? So that's it. The girls are at home, packs of tissues soaked in tears - but nothing has been done.
""Nothing will be done? Wait for Aria to act, it will happen quickly and with all the force," promises a source who claims to know.
No response was received from anyone involved to the Haredi 10's request.
