Jerusalem, 13 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has launched an internal review to determine why the party lost roughly half its parliamentary strength in the recent elections, Israeli media reported on Friday.
Last week, Deri summoned party representatives, including municipal officials, and instructed each to submit detailed election results from their respective areas, an analysis of the decline, and recommendations for recovery. He gave them approximately one week and stressed that he wanted frank, unvarnished assessments rather than reports that concealed the scale of the defeat.
The initiative amounts to an internal investigative committee aimed at identifying how one of Israel’s most effective political machines suffered such a setback.
Some party officials already blame an increasingly hardline Haredi direction, particularly over military conscription, arguing that Shas alienated its traditional, more moderate voter base.
Representatives are expected to present their findings in the coming days.
