Politics · Other · 4 hrs ago
Shas figures consider replacing Aryeh Deri after election losses
Israel’s Shas party won seven seats in Tuesday’s election, down from 11 in 2022, according to a near-complete count.
The result is among the party’s worst, and senior spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef is reportedly seeking a leadership change.
Yosef and his allies are preparing to ask Shas’s Council of Torah Sages to meet and discuss the result.
After that meeting, Yosef plans to seek control of the council, a step that could lead to Aryeh Deri being replaced as party chairman.
Deri’s critics say Shas misjudged competition from Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and lost voters to Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, while neglecting its traditional ultra-Orthodox base.
The dispute comes amid a bitter fight over Haredi military service exemptions, after Israel’s High Court said in 2024 that there was no legal basis for blanket exemptions for yeshiva students.
Shas has said it will not join or support the next government unless it protects broad exemptions, but Deri’s removal is not assured because he remains the party’s dominant figure.
Shas figures, including senior spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef, have begun tentative steps to remove party chairman Aryeh Deri after a poor election result, according to Israeli media reports.
A near-complete vote count showed Shas winning seven seats, down from 11 in 2022.
Yosef and his associates were preparing to ask the Council of Torah Sages to meet and discuss the result.
Deri’s critics argue that he misjudged which party would attract Shas defectors and neglected the party’s traditional ultra-Orthodox voters.
Sources told Kan they were not optimistic about Yosef’s chances of ousting Deri.
- Who
- Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and senior spiritual leader Yitzhak Yosef are at the center of the reported effort.
- What
- Shas figures are considering replacing Deri after the party’s poor election result.
- When
- The tentative steps were reported on Wednesday, after the election on Tuesday.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- Deri’s critics blame his leadership, saying the party misjudged where defectors would go and neglected its traditional ultra-Orthodox voter base.
Yitzhak Yosef and Deri's critics
Aryeh Deri and his supporters
Leadership
Yitzhak Yosef and Deri's critics
Yosef and his associates are preparing to seek a Council of Torah Sages meeting and discuss the result, with a view to replacing Deri.
Aryeh Deri and his supporters
Sources told Kan they were not optimistic about Yosef’s chances of ousting Deri, whom they described as the party’s “sole ruler.
Election strategy
Yitzhak Yosef and Deri's critics
Critics say Shas wrongly expected Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit to be its main challenger and neglected traditional ultra-Orthodox voters.
Aryeh Deri and his supporters
No response from Deri or his supporters is stated.
Shas contested the election, with exit polls projecting that it would win six seats.
Yosef and his associates began tentative steps to remove Deri, according to reports by Channel 13 and Kan.
A near-complete vote count showed Shas winning seven seats, down from 11 in 2022.
- Shas seats
- 7 in the near-complete count
- Previous election result
- 11 seats in 2022
- Yitzhak Yosef
- Former chief rabbi and Shas's senior spiritual leader
- Proposed forum
- Council of Torah Sages
- Exit-poll projection
- 6 seats
What people are saying
sole ruler