Every Sabbath Has Its Saturday Night

Ouzi Ben Nune analyzes Shas's election campaign, pointing out the gap between the campaign's unifying and emotional message and the political reality: the party's leaders, led by Aryeh Deri and the rabbis, are acting against the enlistment of Haredim into the IDF, while appealing to traditionalist-serving voters. Ben Nune argues that the campaign is a desperate attempt to bridge this contradiction.

Ouzi Ben Nune analyzes Shas's election campaign, defining it as brilliant yet cynical and doomed to fail. He describes the three propaganda videos, which depict a traditional family, unity between Torah scholars and soldiers, and moments of reconciliation. However, Ben Nune reveals what he calls "Aryeh Deri's dilemma": Shas appeals to traditionalist-serving voters, but its Haredi leaders, Rabbi Maya and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, openly oppose enlistment. He quotes Rabbi Yosef's call to throw enlistment orders into the toilet, and Deri's recording forbidding yeshiva students from enlisting. Ben Nune argues that the campaign is a desperate attempt to re-spread the "smoke screen" that has dissipated, and to bridge the gap between the Haredi and national interest, but the rift will only deepen.

Every Sabbath Has Its Saturday Night