Reports: Shas leader Deri, 2 other MKs withdraw from Knesset slate; Deri to remain party chairman

By Ariela Karmel

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

Today, 5:24 pm

Edit

Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri attends a Knesset plenum vote for the next state comptroller, in Jerusalem, June 3, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has withdrawn from the party’s Knesset slate and will not serve as a lawmaker in the incoming 26th Knesset, according to Hebrew media reports.

The move comes days after Deri sought to resign as party chairman following Shas’s dismal showing in the October 27 election, which saw the ultra-Orthodox faction shrink from 11 seats to just six, its worst result in more than three decades.

However, the party’s Council of Torah Sages rejected his resignation, insisting that he remain at the helm to lead Shas’s efforts to secure military service exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students. Deri will now reportedly continue leading the party without serving in the Knesset.

Dror Amos and MK Moshe Abutbul, No. 6 and 7 on the party slate, have also withdrawn, clearing the way for MKs Uriel Buso and Yossi Taieb, No. 8 and 9, to enter parliament.