Shas Leader Arye Deri Exits Knesset After Poor Election Results

The head of the Shas party is leaving the parliament after his group took a heavy loss in recent elections. Arye Deri announced on Sunday that he is removing himself from the list for the 26th Knesset. He will no longer hold a seat in the legislature, but he plans to stay as the party chairman. Deri intends to keep guiding the party’s strategy and its talks with other groups to form a government.

Shas saw a steep drop in its standing during the October 27 election. The party won only six seats, down from the 11 it held in the last Knesset. This is the fewest seats Shas has won in more than 20 years. The result reflects a sharp decline for the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party in the eyes of voters.

Deri said he asked the Council of Torah Sages for permission to leave his post as a member of the Knesset. He said the council gave its approval. He explained that he wanted to make room for younger representatives who have shown skill in their parliamentary work. Yinon Azoulay will take the first spot on the party list now that Deri has stepped aside.

Two other candidates also left the slate. Dror Amos and Moshe Abutbul, who had held the sixth and seventh spots, reportedly withdrew. This allows Uriel Busso and Yosef Taieb to move up and take their places. Amos’s departure is a notable change because his presence had signaled a shift in party strategy. He served in the IDF for 25 years before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

Critics focused on Shas’s position on the military service of ultra-Orthodox men during the campaign. This debate became intense as the army faced a severe shortage of personnel. Deri said on Sunday that he will travel across the country to meet with activists and the public. He also promised to meet with his party members every week to watch over their work in committees and on legislation.

Deri stated that he will lead the party under the direction of its rabbis. He said the goal is to bring back the party’s former strength. He also said he wants to protect the Torah world and the Jewish identity of Israel. The announcement comes a few days after the Council of Torah Sages first turned down his request to resign as leader.

The council had told Deri last week that he should stay in his post as chairman even though he wanted to quit. Deri said he accepted that decision at the time. Internal criticism of his leadership and the party’s stance on conscription likely played a role in the poor election results. Before the vote, Deri pushed for new rules on military service for yeshiva students as a condition for joining any new government.

Some critics argued that those rules did not do enough to solve the army’s need for reservists. The opposition bloc has shown interest in working with ultra-Orthodox parties. However, Shas has not said it will join that side. The party instead recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form the next government. This differs from United Torah Judaism, which did not recommend a candidate to President Isaac Herzog.

Deri has served as a minister in several roles during his career. He held posts for Interior, Economy, Negev and Galilee Development, and Health. The High Court ruled in 2023 that he could not serve in the cabinet because of criminal convictions. He was found guilty of bribery in 1999 and tax offenses in 2022.