Former Shas minister Moshe Arbel announces he’s stepping down from the Knesset

By Sam Sokol 17 May 2026, 1:20 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a Knesset committee meeting, Jerusalem, April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Shas MK Moshe Arbel announces his pending resignation from the Knesset, sharing a letter in which he thanks party chairman Aryeh Deri for accepting his request to end his parliamentary tenure at the end of the current session.

He praises Deri’s “analytical thinking, wisdom, and endless dedication to the entirety of Israel” and thanks him for his “full backing and steadfast support for decisions made during these significant years.”

Arbel, who does not give a reason for his resignation, says he will “continue acting in the light of the values of the magnificent Shas movement” and “continue being a public servant even outside the Knesset” by striving “for the unity of the people and the sanctification of Heaven’s name.”

Arbel, who entered the Knesset in 2019, served as both interior and health minister. He was liked on both sides of the aisle and widely seen as a competent minister who acted with compassion.

He broke ranks with his party in 2024, stating that after Hamas’s October 7 attack, there was no longer a “moral” justification to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish men who were not studying in a yeshiva from army service, breaking a long-standing taboo within his community.

At the time, Shas distanced itself from Arbel’s remarks, stating that “the subject of the conscription law and the status of yeshiva students is entrusted exclusively to the rabbis of the Council of Torah Sages and is managed by the movement’s chairman, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, and his representative to the negotiations, Rabbi Ariel Atias.”

In a statement, Deri calls Arbel “one of the precious sons of the Shas revolution” who “worked devotedly for the movement and the public” and “demonstrated loyalty, talent, and impressive capabilities.”

“I have accepted his request to resign from the Knesset for personal reasons that he laid out before me. Alongside this, he announced that he is ready to continue assisting the movement in any way required, and I hope to continue utilizing his help and assigning him tasks in the near future,” Deri continues, wishing his success.