Shas head Arye Deri withdraws from party list, will not be in 26th Knesset

Though he will no longer be an MK, Deri will retain his position as party chairman, continuing to oversee Shas’s direction and its coalition negotiations.

MK Yinon Azoulay will now hold the first slot on the party’s Knesset slate, replacing Deri.

In a statement, Deri said he had requested and received the approval of the Council of Torah Sages to give up his place on the list “in favor of our young representatives, who have already proven themselves in parliamentary work.”

Two additional candidates on Shas’s list, Dror Amos and Moshe Abutbul – who held the sixth and seventh slots on the list – have also reportedly stepped down from the Knesset slate.

This will enable Uriel Busso and Yosef Taieb – the next eligible candidates on the party’s slate – to take their places.

Amos’s placement had been a standout addition to Shas’s Knesset slate, signaling a major strategic shift for the party, as he served in the IDF for 25 years and retired from full-time service as a lieutenant colonel.

Throughout Shas’s election campaign, the party received criticism for its stance regarding haredi conscription to the IDF amid the military’s severe manpower crisis.

Deri also said on Sunday that he planned to set out on “comprehensive, in-depth tours across the length and breadth of the country” to strengthen the party’s ties with its representatives, activists, and the public, while continuing to convene the Shas faction weekly, guide its MKs, and “closely oversee legislative and committee work in the Knesset.”

“With God’s help, I will continue to serve as chairman of the Shas movement [guided] in the light of our esteemed rabbis, and together we will continue to restore the crown to its former glory, and to safeguard the Torah world and the Jewish identity of the State of Israel,” Deri said.

Shas had initially denied reports last week that Deri had submitted a resignation letter, rejecting claims that he had formally announced he was leaving either the Knesset or the party leadership.

However, the council subsequently confirmed that he had requested to resign and forbade him from “leaving his position in the movement.”

“We are confident that he will fulfill the will of the sages, as he has always done,” the letter said.

Deri said last week that he had accepted the council’s “unequivocal directive” and would remain in his post.

His exit from the Knesset follows reported criticism of the party leader from within Shas, including accusations that his leadership, along with the party’s positions on haredi military conscription, had contributed to its electoral decline.

Critics argued that the legislation would not increase haredi conscription in the IDF in light of the military’s severe manpower shortage and ultra-reliance on reservists.

Amid the political deadlock following the October 27 election, the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu has recently shown openness to partnering with the haredi parties.

However, Shas has not openly expressed its intention to partner with that bloc and has instead recommended Netanyahu as the candidate to form the next government.

This is in contrast to the Ashkenazi haredi party United Torah Judaism, which abstained from recommending a candidate to President Isaac Herzog.

Deri has held multiple ministerial portfolios throughout his time in politics: he has served as Interior, Economy, Negev and Galilee Development, and briefly Health Minister, across multiple governments.

In 2023, the High Court ruled that the Shas chairman was not eligible to be part of the country’s cabinet due to his criminal convictions. In 1999, Deri was convicted of bribery and sentenced to three years in prison, of which he served 22 months. In 2022, he was convicted of tax offenses for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence and had to pay a fine of NIS 180,000.