# Shas: what they've published

Close Read, episode 19. Shas (ש"ס), list 19, ballot letters שס. Published October 12, 2026. Israel's Knesset election is on October 27, 2026.

- Page: https://closeread.show/israel-2026/shas/
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2VAb5PWccY
- Audio: https://media.closeread.show/audio/closeread-019-shas-18071040.mp3

Shas hasn't published a platform for this election. What it has published is a slogan, "I have chosen the way of faith," and a steady stream of statements about Torah study, the Jewish identity of the state, and the courts. [S3](#source-s3) [S6](#source-s6) [S9](#source-s9)

## Who is Shas?

Shas is running under the ballot letters shin-samekh, as "the Union of Sephardic Torah Observers, the movement of our master Rabbi Ovadia Yosef," and the list is led by Aryeh Deri. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2)

## What has Shas published?

I looked for a platform, a מצע, and didn't find one. The party website, shas.org.il, wouldn't load for me at all, and the last archived copy is from 2022. The Israel Democracy Institute keeps an index of party platforms for this election, and Shas has no platform link there. So this episode is built from three official channels: the Shas Telegram channel, the Shas account on X, and Aryeh Deri's account on X. [S3](#source-s3) [S4](#source-s4) [S13](#source-s13) A lot of what's posted there is about what Shas says it did in the last Knesset. I'll tell you when something is a claim about the past and when it's a statement about what they'll do next.

## What does Shas say about security and foreign policy?

I couldn't find a Shas position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or relations with the United States. The one security statement I found is Deri responding to a rival. On September 23 he wrote that Avigdor Liberman was proposing to hand control of Judea and Samaria to Jordan, and he called that "Disengagement 2." [S18](#source-s18) So Deri opposes that idea. That's as far as the published material goes.

## What does Shas say about accountability for October 7?

I couldn't find a published position on October 7 accountability.

## What does Shas say about the economy and the cost of living?

I couldn't find a proposal for the next term. What Shas posted is a list of things it says its labor minister did for reservists, like raising the minimum reserve duty payment to 300 shekels a day and extending protection from being fired. [S14](#source-s14) Those are claims about the last term, not promises.

## What does Shas say about housing?

I couldn't find a published position on housing.

## What does Shas say about religion and state?

This is where Shas says the most.

First, Torah study. In July, the outgoing Knesset passed a law called Basic Law: Torah Study, and Shas led it. [S9](#source-s9) Deri wrote that for the first time "the Jewish state recognizes the supreme value of the holy Torah and the status of those who study it." [S9](#source-s9) A day later Deri welcomed a law to stop the arrests of yeshiva students, and called treating them as criminals an injustice that "we began to fix today." [S10](#source-s10) Shas says it will keep working to protect Torah learners. [S8](#source-s8) One campaign graphic reads "Save our students!" [S19](#source-s19) What I didn't find is a published plan on military service for Haredim for the next term. The statements are about the status of Torah study, and they don't lay out a draft policy.

Second, the Jewish identity of the state. This is the center of the campaign. When Shas launched its slogan, Deri said Shas is "the only party fighting for the Jewish identity of the State of Israel" and will keep doing it. [S3](#source-s3)

Third, the Chief Rabbinate. Shas backed a state kashrut law that puts kashrut supervision back under the Chief Rabbinate, and says it will keep strengthening religious services. [S11](#source-s11) On ritual baths, their line is: "They talk about closing mikvaot; we will keep building them." [S12](#source-s12) And on kosher phones, Shas says it will keep defending "the right of every community to live according to its faith." [S13](#source-s13)

On Shabbat and marriage, the one statement I found is from April 20. Naftali Bennett had said he supports public transportation on Shabbat and civil marriage, and Shas answered that anyone willing to sell "the Jewish identity of the state, the holy Shabbat and marriage according to the law of Moses and Israel" will end up selling the Land of Israel too. [S22](#source-s22) That's an answer to a rival, and it doesn't lay out a proposal. I couldn't find a published position on conversion.

## What does Shas say about the judiciary and governance?

On September 16, Deri wrote that Shas is determined "to fix the justice system from the ground up and to return power to the people and its elected representatives." [S6](#source-s6) The one specific measure they name is splitting the attorney general's job into more than one role. Shas supported that bill when it passed a first reading in June, and said it will keep working "to restrain the power of the justice system." [S7](#source-s7) Deri has also written that Shas wants "a non-political justice system." [S8](#source-s8) And he framed the whole election this way: either "the rule of the attorney general," or "the legacy of Maran," meaning Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. "There is no third way." [S5](#source-s5) I didn't find a published proposal on how judges are chosen.

## What does Shas say about education?

I couldn't find a published education policy. Shas did object when the High Court froze budget transfers that Shas says went to Haredi children, but that statement doesn't propose anything. [S21](#source-s21)

## What does Shas say about health?

I couldn't find a health policy for the next term. Shas posted a video of its former health minister describing what it calls its achievements. [S16](#source-s16)

## What does Shas say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly?

In July, Shas posted that the Knesset Finance Committee approved about 10 million shekels more for food baskets for families in need, from Shas coalition funds. In the same post, former welfare minister Yaakov Margi said "Shas will continue to care for the weak." [S15](#source-s15) That's a goal, with a past action attached. I couldn't find anything on pensions or the elderly.

## What does Shas say about Arab citizens and minorities?

I couldn't find a published position on Arab citizens or minorities.

## What does Shas say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora?

On immigration, absorption, or the diaspora, I found nothing published.

## What does Shas say about the environment, energy and transportation?

I found no position on the environment, energy, or transportation.

## What Shas puts front and center

The slogan is "I have chosen the way of faith," a line from Psalms, and Shas posted it as a billboard and a bus ad next to a photo of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. [S3](#source-s3) [S20](#source-s20) The other message is Torah learners and soldiers together. Shas ran a campaign video about what it calls the Shas family, and Deri reposted letters from supporters describing families with one son in yeshiva and another in the army. [S23](#source-s23) He also wrote that Shas is "the home of Torah learners and of soldiers." [S17](#source-s17)

## What Shas hasn't published

There's no published Shas position on October 7 accountability, housing, education, health, pensions, Arab citizens, immigration, or the environment, and no concrete security plan. On the economy and welfare, what they published is mostly a record of the last term.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Intro
- 0:20 About this series
- 0:44 Who they are
- 0:59 What they've published
- 1:43 Security and foreign policy
- 5:34 October 7 accountability
- 7:49 Housing, Immigration: no stated position
- 8:53 What's missing

## Sources

- <a id="source-s1"></a>S1: [Central Elections Committee page for the list "התאחדות הספרדים שומרי תורה תנועתו של מרן הרב עובדיה יוסף זצ"ל", candidate list for the 26th Knesset (print of the gov.il page, hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute)](https://www.idi.org.il/media/32339/%D7%A9%D7%A1.pdf) (Official list record, Hebrew, published 2026-09-08)
- <a id="source-s2"></a>S2: CEC votes26 results page, which lists the Shas list name with ballot letters "שס" (the vote counts on this page are placeholder test data and are not used) (Official results page (pre-election test data), Hebrew, published 2026 (undated))
- <a id="source-s3"></a>S3: [Shas launches its election slogan "דרך אמונה בחרתי", with a statement by Aryeh Deri (post 5280)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5280) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-18)
- <a id="source-s4"></a>S4: [Deri: "יצאנו לדרך... ש״ס תמשיך לחבר את עם ישראל לאמונה ולשמור על זהותה היהודית של המדינה שלנו"](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2089688421652414755) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-18)
- <a id="source-s5"></a>S5: [Deri: "על זה הבחירות..."](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2093051525845196979) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-27)
- <a id="source-s6"></a>S6: [Deri: "לתקן מן היסוד את מערכת המשפט ולהחזיר את הכוח לעם ולנבחריו"](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2100137472139145470) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-16)
- <a id="source-s7"></a>S7: [Shas faction on first reading of the bill to split the attorney general's role (post 5211)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5211) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-06-02)
- <a id="source-s8"></a>S8: [Deri on the High Court injunction: "לקידום מערכת משפט לא פוליטית" (post 5261)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5261) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-07-15)
- <a id="source-s9"></a>S9: [Deri on Basic Law: Torah Study: first reading (post 5238) and final passage (posts 5252, 5254)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5238) (Telegram posts, Hebrew, published 2026-07-01, 2026-07-13)
- <a id="source-s10"></a>S10: [Deri on the law ending arrests of yeshiva students (post 5255)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5255) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-07-14)
- <a id="source-s11"></a>S11: [Kashrut: Shas faction on first reading of the kashrut fraud bill (post 5213) and Deri on final passage of the state kashrut law (post 5260)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5213) (Telegram posts, Hebrew, published 2026-06-02, 2026-07-15)
- <a id="source-s12"></a>S12: [Shas response on mikvaot: "הם מדברים על סגירת מקוואות, אנחנו נמשיך לבנות אותם" (post 5241)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5241) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-07-03)
- <a id="source-s13"></a>S13: [Shas on kosher phones: "ש״ס גאה בהובלת החוק לשמירת הקומה הכשרה ותמשיך להגן..."](https://x.com/shas_party/status/2092563119935496553) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-26)
- <a id="source-s14"></a>S14: [Shas list of its activity for reservists, discharged soldiers, combat trauma, and Haredi integration in the army and workforce (past-term record)](https://x.com/shas_party/status/2098033069361971223) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-10)
- <a id="source-s15"></a>S15: [Food baskets: Finance Committee approves about NIS 10 million from Shas coalition funds; "ש"ס תמשיך לדאוג לחלשים" (post 5249)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5249) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-07-12)
- <a id="source-s16"></a>S16: [Shas "achievements" videos: labor (Yoav Ben Tzur), health (Uriel Busso), social achievements; Deri quote of Yaakov Margi welfare video with placard "העלאת שכר לעובדים הסוציאליים"](https://x.com/shas_party/status/2103033064548970576) (X posts (videos), Hebrew, published 2026-09-23 to 2026-09-28)
- <a id="source-s17"></a>S17: [Deri: "ש״ס היא הבית של לומדי התורה ושל החיילים, של המסורת ושל הערבות ההדדית" (welcoming Dror Amos to the list)](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2097280599916454272) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-08)
- <a id="source-s18"></a>S18: [Deri on a proposal attributed to Avigdor Liberman about Judea and Samaria: "ליברמן מציע התנתקות 2 ביהודה ושומרון"](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2102673219232686453) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-23)
- <a id="source-s19"></a>S19: [Campaign graphic "הצלת תלמידינו!" with the slogan "דרך אמונה בחרתי" (post 5311)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5311) (Telegram image, Hebrew, published 2026-09-01)
- <a id="source-s20"></a>S20: [Campaign billboard and bus ad, slogan "דרך אמונה בחרתי" with image of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (posts 5281, 5282)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5281) (Telegram images, Hebrew, published 2026-08-18)
- <a id="source-s21"></a>S21: [Shas faction statement on the High Court freezing budget transfers, "כשמדובר בילדי הציבור החרדי..." (post 5274)](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5274) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-05)
- <a id="source-s22"></a>S22: [Shas response to Naftali Bennett on public transportation on Shabbat and civil marriage: "השבת הקדושה ונישואין כדת משה וישראל" (post 5168). Added in the 2026-10-01 audit. The saved HTML pages do not cover this post; the text is from the text export and JSON only](https://t.me/dovrutshas/5168) (Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-04-20)
- <a id="source-s23"></a>S23: ["Shas family" video: supporter letters reposted by Deri (2091474961286226244, 2091619635577729391, 2092170811616416236); "ברית אחים" series: Deri and @shas_party posts and Telegram post 5319](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2091474961286226244) (X posts and Telegram post, Hebrew, published 2026-08-23 to 2026-09-10)
- <a id="source-s24"></a>S24: [Deri: "מאות אלפי משרתי המילואים צריכים ש"ס חזקה"](https://x.com/ariyederi/status/2103030881854083188) (X post, Hebrew, published 2026-09-24)