Israel’s Shas party unveils candidate list for the 26th Knesset
Israel’s Shas party on September 8 published its list of candidates for the 26th Knesset. Party leader Aryeh Deri and the Council of Torah Sages decided not to carry out a major renewal of the parliamentary team, but changed the order of several candidates and added two new people to the list, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Reserve officer in sixth position
The most notable new candidate was Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Dror Amos, chairman of Haifa’s Religious Services Council. He was immediately placed sixth on Shas’s electoral list. Amos served in the Israel Defense Forces for 25 years and completed his career service with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He founded the Chesed Chaim V'Emet organization, which helps bereaved families observe religious burial traditions. After the October 7 attack, Amos launched the “Kaddish for Every Holy Soul” initiative: volunteers were paired with the families of victims and fallen soldiers to ensure memorial prayers were recited in their honor.
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Changes at the top of the list
Knesset member Yinon Azoulay, who was in seventh place in the 2022 election, rose to second position after Deri. He is followed on the list by Michael Malkieli, Yoav Ben-Tzur and Haim Biton. Azoulay’s promotion came after Yaakov Margi and Moshe Arbel, who had previously held the second and sixth positions respectively, were not included in the new list.
In the final hours of forming the list, the positions of candidates in the second ten also changed. Moshe Abutbul rose to seventh position, Uriel Buso became eighth, Yosef Taieb ninth, and Yonatan Mishraki fell to tenth place. The 11th position went to another newcomer, Yosef Elnatanov, who represents the Bukharian Jewish community.
Separately, the newly created Ha-Tzibur Ha-Haredi party (“Ultra-Orthodox Public”) submitted a list for the 26th Knesset. Its first four places were taken by party chairman Moti Leitner, Asher Freddy, Dr. Nehumi Yaffe and Ziva Glantz.
