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Sunday, May 24, 2026
Shas MK Ya’akov Margi will leave Knesset, in second resignation from party in a week
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela 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 MK Ya’akov Margi announces that he will not run in the upcoming elections and will leave the Knesset at the end of the current term, according to Hebrew media reports citing an announcement from the politician, bringing to an end a 23-year parliamentary career and making him the second Shas lawmaker in a week to announce his resignation.
In a statement, the ultra-Orthodox lawmaker says that he recently informed party chairman Aryeh Deri that he does not wish to be included on the party’s next Knesset slate, though Deri asked him to delay the decision.
His announcement comes a week after fellow Shas MK and former minister Moshe Arbel submitted his resignation from the Knesset.
Like Arbel, Margi gives no reason for his decision, but emphasizes that he is not leaving the wider Shas movement, calling Shas “my home,” and pledging to fulfill any role assigned to him by the party leadership.
Margi was first elected to the Knesset in 2003, and has served as Religious Affairs Minister and, more recently, as Welfare Minister until Shas quit the government last summer in protest over the failure to pass a draft exemption law for yeshiva students.
The Times of Israel Community.