Dr. Avishai Ben Haim accuses: This is the reason for Shas's collapse in the elections

Journalist Dr. Avishai Ben Haim claims that Shas's collapse in the elections stems from a long-standing 'hegemonic persecution' against the movement, its founder, and the party chairman, and not only from its internal conduct.

Journalist Dr. Avishai Ben Haim claims that Shas's collapse in the elections for the 26th Knesset is not only due to the party's conduct, but is the result of a prolonged hegemonic campaign against the Mizrahi movement. According to him, 'the hegemonic move to eliminate the Mizrahi pride of Shas – succeeded.' Ben Haim accuses a 'long-standing hegemonic persecution' against the movement, its founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and party chairman Aryeh Deri, which he describes as 'violent-legal, unfair in the media, rife with anti-Mizrahi prejudices and stereotypes.' He claims that because of Deri's success in bringing masses of Mizrahim to vote for themselves, he was sent to prison and weakened. Ben Haim concludes by saying that the hegemony 'systematically crushed Shas, with hard work, with degrading anti-Mizrahi stereotyping; turned Maran's cultural-social revival movement into a criminal event, and slowly emptied it of air.'