Now the whole country is savoring his victory. Suddenly the prospects for a cohesive government–and for peace–look considerably brighter. If Barak brings Shas into his coalition, he will probably drag along the other religious parties, giving him 77 out of the 120 Knesset seats. And while most ultrareligious Israelis are quite hawkish, Shas’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, has ruled that land-for-peace deals are acceptable, enabling the party to endorse the peace process. “We will have a clear majority for compromise and conciliation in the peace process,” says Shlomo Ben-Ami, a Barak ally tipped for the Finance or Education Ministry.
But that doesn’t mean Barak’s troubles are over. He still must referee disputes between Shas and other key coalition partners, namely Meretz, Labor’s most left-wing ally. Though Meretz is delighted that Deri is out, it still considers Shas anti-democratic and fundamentalist. “This is a battle over the character of the state of Israel,” says Meretz leader Yossi Sarid. “Deri’s resignation was the main thing, but people voted for a democratic society in these last elections, and we want to be sure this is a government that brings democracy and tolerance.” And Shas won’t team up with Labor for nothing; it insists on retaining the powerful Interior Ministry. That may be a problem for Barak. The influential Russian immigrant party, Yisrael B’aliyah, claims he already promised the post to its leader, former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky.
Meanwhile, Deri, who was sentenced to four years in prison, is free on bail while he appeals his conviction. He has many supporters, whose T shirts and bumper stickers bear the slogan friend, he is innocent. That may be, but his days of kingmaking are over. Ehud Barak wields the influence now.
