Shas

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"Shas" may also refer to the Shisha Sedarim (six orders) of the Mishnah and Talmud.

Image:Shas logo.png Template:Politics of Israel Shas (Hebrew: ש"ס) is an Israeli political party representing mostly Haredi Sephardi Jews. The original name of Shas is the International/World Sephardic Association [of] Torah Keepers (Hebrew: התאחדות הספרדים העולמית שומרי תורה).

The party was founded in 1984 prior to the 1984 election under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (a former Israeli Chief rabbi) with strategic help and guidance from Rabbi Elazar Shach (1898-2001), the leader of Israel's non-Hasidic Haredi Ashkenazi Jews (known as the "Mitnagdim" by some.)

Shas was created by the merging of regional lists that were established in 1983. Shas is known for its opposition to removal of religious functions and restrictions of the state, and support for generous social payments. Its views on policy toward the Palestinians has been relatively flexible, thus often allowing it to control the balance of power between Israel's two large parties, Labor and Likud.

The party's spiritual leader has been Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

In the 2003 election, it gained 11 Knesset seats out of 120, a significant decrease from the 17 seats that it won in the election of 1999. In the 2006 elections, it added only one seat.

The party was mired in scandal after the indictment and subsequent conviction and imprisonment of its former party leader, Aryeh Deri, on corruption charges. While Rabbi Yosef distanced the party from Deri and installed Eli Yishai as the new party head, many Shas voters saw Deri as the victim of a racist political witch-hunt and continue to support him.

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