Shas Council Keeps Deri as Chairman

Overview

• The Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah published an instruction on Wednesday that forbids Aryeh Deri from stepping down as Shas chairman and urged him to continue leading the movement.
• Deri has accepted the council’s order but is expected to resign his Knesset seat so he can direct party strategy from outside parliament.
• The rabbinic statement, carried in the Shas paper Haderech, cited halakhic sources including the Rambam and framed the decision as necessary for the fight to secure yeshiva students’ status.
• Discussions about who would fill Shas’s Knesset seats are ongoing, with media reports naming Moshe Abutbul and Ariel Busso as possible movers but no replacements have been finalized.
• The move preserves the Moetzes’s control over Shas after a steep electoral loss from 11 to six seats and sets the party’s immediate focus on protecting Torah study exemptions while affecting its role in coalition bargaining.