Shas spokesman Asher Medina has rejected accusations from the Noam party that Shas copied its election slogan, “Derech Emunah Bacharti” — “I have chosen the path of faith” — insisting that the phrase was never the centerpiece of Noam’s campaign.

Speaking Tuesday evening on Kol Chai’s “Central Edition,” hosted by Shneur Weber, Medina responded to a warning letter sent by Noam after Shas began using the phrase, which had previously appeared in Noam campaign material.

Medina said Shas had been developing its campaign for weeks and that the slogan was not hastily adopted from another party.

“This campaign, we have been working on it for two weeks in the final polishing stages,” Medina said, explaining that Shas deliberately waited until after the Likud primaries before formally unveiling its new election message.

Addressing Noam’s argument that it had used the phrase first, Medina said the party itself had publicly presented a different slogan as the central theme of its campaign.

“The Noam party came out with great fanfare and loudly announced that they launched the campaign with their slogan ‘To be a Jew in our land.’ That is how it was published on all the websites and in all the press releases,” Medina said.

Medina acknowledged that Noam had previously used “Derech Emunah Bacharti,” but maintained that its use had been limited rather than part of the party’s primary campaign.

“It is true that there is some one sign where they did use the words ‘Derech Emunah Bacharti.’ Very nice that they thought of it,” he said.

“I don’t think we took a campaign from them. It is not their campaign, it is not what they have invested in until now, nor is it what they publicized everywhere. Therefore, I don’t see this as any copying or anything that we would not be able to use,” Medina added.

Medina said Shas was also drawn to the phrase because of the broader public significance it acquired surrounding the return of hostage Agam Berger from captivity.

“When we sat down now to work on the elections, these words grabbed us,” Medina said. “When you want to choose which path and what character the country will have — what could be more fitting than this slogan?”

{Matzav.com}