Shas and UTJ sign surplus-vote agreement — Jerusalem Post
In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) announced that they had concluded a surplus-vote agreement ahead of the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the parties also said they intended to continue their cooperation in the next parliamentary term.
How the agreement will work
Shas represents Sephardic ultra-Orthodox voters and is led by Knesset member Aryeh Deri. UTJ is an Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party led by its newly appointed chairman, Knesset member Yaakov Asher. Both political forces were key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.
Under such arrangements, the parties combine their remaining votes after the initial allocation of seats. If their combined total qualifies for an additional seat, one of the parties may receive it, potentially strengthening their political bloc. The agreement will apply only if both forces pass the electoral threshold. According to the latest polls, Shas and UTJ each have around seven to eight seats.
Joint position in the Knesset
Deri and Asher said that the agreement reflects the factions' long-standing cooperation in accordance with the guidance of leading rabbis and Torah scholars. The parties said they planned to present a united front on issues of preserving the world of Torah, the status of yeshiva students, and strengthening religious educational institutions.
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Shas and UTJ have also faced criticism over their position on conscripting ultra-Orthodox citizens into the army amid an acute manpower shortage in the Israel Defense Forces. These parties urged Netanyahu's coalition to advance legislation that, according to critics, would not increase the number of ultra-Orthodox conscripts during the government's term. They had previously boycotted coalition votes, saying they would not cooperate with it without progress in advancing the disputed legislation.
Other pre-election agreements
Netanyahu's Likud party has already concluded a similar agreement with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party. At the same time, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit party said that Likud had refused to sign such an agreement with it.
The main parties of the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu concluded surplus-vote agreements back in September. In particular, agreements were signed by Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party and Yair Golan's Democrats, as well as Naftali Bennett's Beyachad and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu.
