From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Shas MK resigns under shadow of ‘inappropriate acts’ claim
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Following his party’s declaration that it was leaving the government yesterday evening, Shas MK Avraham Betzalel announces his resignation from the Knesset. According to Haaretz, party chairman Aryeh Deri called on him to resign over what it describes as “allegations of inappropriate acts.”
National broadcaster Kan reports that a young Haredi man had complained that Betzalel, who chairs the Knesset Special Committee for Bridging Social Gaps in the Periphery, had harmed him.
Announcing his resignation, Betzalel states that he is leaving the Knesset “in order to allow [party MK Yonatan] Mashriki to continue leading the Health Committee” rather than being forced out under the Norwegian law.
This morning saw a wave of resignations by Shas ministers, which will push out party members who received their seats under a law that allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to give their Knesset seats to more junior members of their parties. Now that they are out of government, they must reclaim those seats if they wish to remain lawmakers.
A spokesman for Deri denies that Betzalel was being pushed out over allegations of misconduct, telling Haaretz that to claim otherwise is “a complete lie.”
The Times of Israel Community.