Aryeh Deri
Shas chairman and Knesset member; heads the Shas list
Aryeh Deri gets a B-
Score: 81 out of 100, the average of 7 measures. Graded on what Deri has said and done, because I count recorded votes only for the US Congress. Every line is below, with its source.
- ATyrannyWith liberty, 5 sources
- AFree nationsWith liberty, 3 sources
- FFree speechAgainst liberty, 1 source
- FFree marketsBoth ways, 2 sources
- FConscienceAgainst liberty, 1 source
- DDefenseMostly with liberty, 2 sources
- ABordersWith liberty, 1 source
Deri, on the record
15 things Deri has said and done. Each one has its source, and each is marked with the same test I use for votes in Congress. A line that doesn't settle the question is marked as not clear and counts for nothing.
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As interior minister, Deri signed orders barring Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement, his deputy and other activists from leaving the country.
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
He used his office against the leaders of a banned organisation tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Asked before the March 2021 election whether he would sit in a coalition supported by the Islamic party Ra'am, Deri did not rule it out; he said he would rather rely on his own bloc's 61 seats and that Mansour Abbas could give his support later if he wished.
“I cannot say no or yes because I did not get into the thick of things”
- By the test I use for votes
- Not clear either way
He neither accepted nor refused governing with the support of the party of the southern Islamic Movement.
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Days after Iran's first direct missile and drone attack on Israel in April 2024, when a strike in return was being weighed, Deri argued for restraint.
“knowing to be restrained, to be patient, listen to our partners and not do things just for revenge and show that we did something.”
- By the test I use for votes
- Not clear either way
He counselled holding back from a strike at that moment and acting with allies, which neither backs nor rejects pressure on the regime.
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After the United States struck the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites in June 2025, he congratulated the prime minister and called it a historic day.
“This is a historic day that will be remembered for generations as someone who acted with determination and courage in the face of the threat of annihilation from Iran.”
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
Backing the strike on the regime's nuclear programme is confronting a regime that rules by fear.
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In an interview during the ceasefire in the 2026 war with the Islamic Republic, Deri said Israel had given the Americans a plan aimed at the fall of the regime, and that he thought the ceasefire made its fall from within more likely.
“The goal was to create conditions for the regime's fall, and I think we created those conditions.”
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
He backed military action against the Islamic Republic and named the fall of its rulers as the aim.
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When the war began he joined the war cabinet formed on 11 October 2023 as an observer.
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
Joining the country's wartime leadership after it was attacked is taking part in leading its defense.
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While he sat as an observer in the war cabinet, he said the army's operation in Gaza had no time limit and would go on until Hamas was eradicated, in daily coordination with the United States.
“We will act as much as we need to, according to the needs of the army. Of course we do this while conversing daily with the Americans.”
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
Backing the country's war of defense against the group that attacked it is standing with a democracy under attack.
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In an interview with the Shas newspaper HaDerech he said the army's plan for Gaza was to topple Hamas's rule and bring the hostages home, not to hold the territory.
“The intention is not to hold the territory but to topple Hamas's rule and bring the hostages home”
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
Backing the campaign to remove the rule of the group that attacked Israel is backing the country's defense.
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When former prime minister Naftali Bennett came to Bnei Brak to speak against an attack on female soldiers there, Deri called him an inciter and asked the police to bar him from the city.
“I call on the police commissioner to immediately issue a restraining order barring Naftali Bennett from the streets of Bnei Brak.”
- By the test I use for votes
- Against liberty
He asked the state to keep a political rival who had come to speak out of a city's public streets.
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When the finance minister scrapped the tax on sugary drinks brought in by the previous government, a step the Haredi parties had demanded, Deri applauded the decision and called the tax a political measure aimed at underprivileged people.
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
He backed removing a tax on consumer goods.
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In a dispute with the finance ministry over who qualifies for state food vouchers, Deri's office said he would keep fighting to restore the earlier rules, under which about 400,000 families received vouchers.
“Rav Deri will not stay silent and will continue the battle until the criteria are restored to full equality.”
- By the test I use for votes
- Against liberty
Food vouchers paid from the state budget to hundreds of thousands of households are more state spending.
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When the Knesset passed the Basic Law: Torah Study by 63 votes to 52, a law the Haredi parties had demanded from the prime minister before the Knesset dissolved, Deri welcomed it.
“For the first time, the Jewish state recognizes the supreme value of the holy Torah and the status of those who study it.”
- By the test I use for votes
- Against liberty
The law writes a religious value and the standing of those who study religion full time into the country's constitutional laws.
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The Shas faction, which Deri chairs, voted for the bill that added about 31 billion shekels to the 2025 state budget for defence costs, and said beforehand that it would do so because the money buys munitions and pays reservists.
“These are truly matters of saving lives, and therefore the Shas faction will vote for the proposal”
In Hebrew:
אלו עניינים של פיקוח נפש ממש, ומשכך, סיעת ש״ס תצביע בעד ההצעה
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
A vote for extra money for the armed forces in wartime is a vote to fund and equip them.
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Deri visited the military prison where yeshiva students were held for not obeying call-up orders, met about ten of them and called for the arrests to stop.
“From here we cry out: stop treating Torah students as criminals”
- By the test I use for votes
- Against liberty
He opposes enforcing conscription on men the army has called up.
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As interior minister, after the Supreme Court temporarily barred the deportation of thousands of people who had entered Israel illegally from Africa, Deri said the deportations would go on.
“We will respond to the Supreme Court with our response to these frivolous appeals, and then the deportation of the infiltrators - which I started - will continue.”
- By the test I use for votes
- With liberty
He ran and defended a programme to deport people who entered the country illegally.
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Aryeh Deri
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