Shas party fears disintegration if Aryeh Deri resigns after election drop

Shas party fell from 11 to 6 seats in the November 2026 elections. Leader Aryeh Deri has not appeared publicly since. The party fears disintegration if he resigns, as rabbis work to oust him.

There is concern in Shas that if party chairman Aryeh Deri resigns from his position, the party will end its historical role and disband. The concern arises against the backdrop of the election results, in which Shas plummeted from 11 seats to just 6. Deri has not been seen in public since the elections, and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and other rabbis are working to oust him. A senior Shas figure says the rabbis want to take revenge on Deri for his conduct toward them. However, party sources estimate that if Deri resigns, Shas will become a collection of courts and rabbis without a clear message. Tzuriel Krispel, one of Shas's founders, says that Deri still holds the entire structure, and if he leaves, everything will fall apart. The article describes the process of disintegration that began during the election campaign, against the backdrop of the controversy over ultra-Orthodox conscription. Shas lost a quarter of its power in ultra-Orthodox cities and 40% in the periphery.