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Shas party

A sample voting booth is displayed at the Central Elections Committee warehouse in Shoham, ahead of the upcoming election, October 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
2026 Knesset election
Ariela Karmel, Stav Levaton, Tal Schneider, Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
Everything you need to know: ToI’s guide to the 37 parties that Israelis can choose from
After four years of government stability despite protests, upheaval, tragedy and war, voters will once again have their say at the ballot box. From frontrunners Yashar and Likud to the one-man Shema and the perennial also-ran Pirates, these are the factions vying for the Knesset's 120 seats on October 27
Footage posted to social media shows Haredi passengers dancing at Ben Gurion International Airport, where 42 ultra-Orthodox men were arrested in a Military Police operation upon their return to Israel from the United States, October 20, 2026. (Screenshot/Social media: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law via Channel 12);
October 20, 2026, 6:15 pm
Netanyahu comes out against arrest of Haredi draft dodgers as 42 detained at airport
Arrests are ‘deliberate attempt to harm the process of drafting Haredim without coercion,’ PM claims; 40 of detainees freed after pledging to enlist; ultra-Orthodox MKs decry ‘political intereference’; opposition leaders slam premier
By ToI Staff, Emanuel Fabian and Ariela Karmel
Israeli National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit party chairman Itamar Ben Gvir attends a press conference ahead of Israel’s upcoming general elections, in Jerusalem, October 18, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 19, 2026, 11:43 am
Ben Gvir says Netanyahu has promised EU to exclude him from next government
Former chief rabbi, a Shas religious leader, urges voters to shun Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit; new Haredi party said to reject pressure from PM to quit race; Ra’am denounces faked billboards
By Noam Lehmann, Stav Levaton, Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox men block Bar-Ilan Street and clash with police during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, in Jerusalem, October 8, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
October 9, 2026, 5:25 pm
Report: Netanyahu asked Haredi parties to cancel Thursday’s anti-draft protests, fearing optics
TV report says ultra-Orthodox politicians clarified to PM that demonstrations, which saw three arrested amid clashes with polices, were called by extremist Jerusalem Faction
By ToI Staff
The change bloc leaders: Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett (Official campaign photos, combo created by The Times of Israel)
September 28, 2026, 5:09 pm
By refusing to name a leader, the anti-Netanyahu ‘change bloc’ is making a fatal mistake
An intended reconciliation meeting exposed a critical flaw. In declining to rally behind Gadi Eisenkot, the opposition is inviting relentless, deeply damaging internal rivalry
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Maj. (res.) Dror David Amos. (Shas)
September 20, 2026, 1:43 pm
Shas candidate’s nonprofit for bereaved families diverted funds to yeshiva students — report
Channel 12 probe accuses Shas No. 6 Dror Amos of double funding, patronage involving associates; rights group seeks criminal investigation, his disqualification from election
By Ariela Karmel
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri attends a vote in the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 3, 2026, 1:47 pm
Deri dismisses issue of ultra-Orthodox draft evasion, saying IDF ‘knows how to cope’
Shas party chairman declines to urge his community to enlist, citing lack of ‘real tracks’ for Haredi soldiers; asked about the Hasmonean Brigade, says he ‘hasn’t looked into it’
By ToI Staff
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at a Knesset House committee meeting, Jerusalem, June 8, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 2, 2026, 7:32 pm
AG says Ovadia Yosef memorial event can be held before election if it is privately funded
In letter to Religious Affairs Ministry, Baharav-Miara proposes splitting planned ceremony for late Shas spiritual leader into two separate events to assuage electioneering concern
By ToI Staff
Political correspondent Sam Sokol appears on the Daily Briefing with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
August 31, 2026, 1:39 pm
Daily Briefing Aug. 31: Splinter parties jockey for position as election deadline looms
Political correspondent Sam Sokol discusses ‘third bloc’ political parties ahead of September 8 deadline for forming slates, and the new ultra-Orthodox party, The Charedi Public
By Jessica Steinberg and Sam Sokol
Moti Leitner, chairman of The Charedi Public, and Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, head of the party's rabbinic committee, attend the kick-off of the new ultra-Orthodox faction's Knesset campaign in Beit Shemesh, August 23, 2026. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
August 24, 2026, 7:26 pm
Launching campaign, new Haredi party slams ‘detachment, stupidity’ of existing factions
The Charedi Public calls for secular education, workforce participation and the enlistment of everybody who is not learning full-time in yeshiva
By Sam Sokol
A screenshot from a Shas campaign video featuring an IDF soldier from a Haredi background, which the Central Elections Committee ordered the part to take down on August 23, 2026. (Screenshot/Shas)
August 23, 2026, 7:19 pm
Election czar orders Shas to remove ad claiming troops support Haredi party
Judge gives Aryeh Deri 2 days to respond to Yashar petition alleging the video, featuring a religious family welcoming their soldier son home, violates election rules
By Sam Sokol
A screenshot from a Shas campaign video featuring an IDF soldier from a Haredi background that was ordered taken down by the Central Elections Committee on August 23, 2026. (Screenshot/Shas)
August 23, 2026, 8:21 am
Shas launches election campaign with video aimed at courting soldiers, Zionist right
Following ultra-Orthodox party’s relentless efforts to enshrine IDF exemptions in law, it bids to soften anti-draft image ahead of elections, showing soldier coming home to Haredi family
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Shas party chief Aryeh Deri (left) and Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot seen at the funeral of Lt. Col. Roee Yohay Yosef Mordechay at Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, on January 7, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
August 21, 2026, 2:59 pm
Eisenkot threatens to siphon traditional voters away from a panicking Shas
Fearing a mass voter exodus over the draft crisis, Aryeh Deri staged a show of unity with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to save his party from a humiliating collapse
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
August 12, 2026, 10:25 am
Former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef reportedly orders students not to vote for Shas
Religious leader, who sits on the party’s rabbinic council, said to privately call for toppling right-wing coalition, saying Netanyahu and allies ‘hate us, but the left respects us’; he denies the story
By ToI Staff
Former interior minister Eli Yishai arrives to testify before the Meron Disaster Inquiry Committee, in Jerusalem, on May 17, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 6, 2026, 10:01 am
Former Shas leader Yishai said to mull run with new Eisenkot-linked Haredi party
Ex-minister holds meetings with leaders of The Haredi Public in bid to capitalize on dissatisfaction among Shas voters; reports say Eisenkot associates helped shape party strategy
By ToI Staff
Shas chair Aryeh Deri (left) attends a Knesset plenum session and a vote on a bill to split the duties and powers of the attorney general, on July 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir attends a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of Operation Entebbe at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, July 12, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 16, 2026, 5:11 pm
Deri accuses IDF chief of election interference for opposing ban on arresting draft dodgers
Shas chair, a member of key security cabinet, claims Zamir harmed the army by speaking out against law benefiting Haredi evaders, says he no longer recognizes High Court’s authority after it froze legislation
By Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff
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