For months, bereaved families from the 'Gevura Forum', an organization of families who lost their loved ones in Hamas' surprise attack and the 'Iron Swords' war, have been trying to schedule a meeting with Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri - but without success.
According to a report by journalist Yaki Adamkar, from WhatsApp messages sent to Deri's office in August and September, there appears to be a continuous and consistent evasion of scheduling a meeting. There have also been similar attempts in recent weeks.
For example, the office person replied: "I will check with him and update," "Not yet," and "Peace and blessings, Rabbi Aryeh is very busy and cannot coordinate the meeting.".
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Sources connected to the 'Heroism Forum' tell Haredim 10: "In recent months, representatives of the 'Heroism Forum' have been meeting with many ministers in the government, including ministers from the Shas party, with the aim of presenting to them the 'Forum''s' demands for realizing the war's goals.
""As part of the attempts to schedule meetings, many requests were made to the office of Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri, who has great influence in the cabinet and on the conduct of the war, but so far all requests have been answered negatively - and the minister refuses to meet with the families.".
The sources added: "The bureau's claim that Deri is busy and therefore cannot meet with the bereaved families is unfounded in light of the fact that the prime minister and the outgoing defense minister knew how to make time to hear the families' voices.".
Another source says that about two weeks ago, the forum's CEO met MK Deri as he was leaving a funeral and tried to talk to him about a meeting, but was treated disdainfully - and "Deri ran into the elevator.".
The source noted, however, that when the forum was established 11 months ago - on November 25, 2023 - representatives participated in a Shas faction meeting, and "then they heard very warm things from Deri, but nothing since then.".
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Why does Deri refuse to meet with the 'Heroism Forum', where they claim they are treated disdainfully?! I asked the Shas spokesman.
He replied: "Deri met with them twice during the year.".
Regarding the claim that the CEO of the Forum was treated disdainfully, he responded: "He listened to him with respect. Not disdain.".
On the question: When did Deri meet with the forum members - no answer was received.
