Aryeh Deri, the charismatic leader of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for taking bribes. Deri, an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was convicted last month of pocketing $155,000 while holding several positions in the Interior Ministry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Deri said he would appeal. Shas supporters, who are primarily of Sephardi background, contend that the Ashkenazi elite has made the Moroccan-born Deri a scapegoat.
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