Shas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Elazar Shach |
| Leader | Eli Yishai |
| Number of MPs at height of power | 17 (1999) |
| Political ideology | Yalkut Yosef Sephardi Judaism Social conservatism |
| Website | shasnet.org.il |
| See also the Politics of Israel series | |
Shas (Hebrew: ש"ס) is an political party in Israel, primarily representing Ultra-orthodox Sephardi Judaism. The original name of Shas is the The International World Sephardic Association [of] Torah Keepers (Hebrew: התאחדות הספרדים העולמית שומרי תורה).
As a result of the 2006 elections, Shas has 12 seats in the Knesset and is tied with Likud for the third-highest number of seats. Following the election, Shas joined the governing coalition and holds four cabinet posts. Its current leader, Eli Yishai, is deputy prime minister.
Contents |
[edit] History
Shas was founded in 1984 prior to the elections in the same year, through the merger of regional lists established in 1983. The party was formed under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (a former Israeli Chief rabbi), who remains its spiritual leader today. In founding the party, Rabbi Yosef received 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.)
The party was mired in scandal after the indictment and subsequent conviction and imprisonment of its former party leader, Aryeh Deri, on corruption charges in 1999. While Rabbi Yosef distanced the party from Deri and installed Yishai as the new party head, many Shas voters saw Deri as the victim of a discrimanatory political witch-hunt and continue to support him.
Following Deri's conviction, Shas gained 17 seats in the 1999 elections, its strongest showing since its formation. Its strength was reduced to 11 seats in the 2003 election, and in the 2006 elections it added one seat for a total of 12 in the current Knesset.
Shas is a strong advocate of the Jewish religion playing a central role in the state, such as laws prohibiting various activities on the Shabbat. Shas has a socially conservative agenda, while also supporting generous welfare payments, especially for yeshiva students. Its policy toward the Arabs has been relatively flexible, although it generally supports the Greater Israel idea united under the crown of the Mizrahi Torah, in accordance to the notions of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Ovadia Yosef's flexible foreign policy derivatives. Shas has at various times been able to exert disproportionate influence by gaining control of the balance of power within the context of the traditionally narrow margin between Israel's large parties, Labour and Likud, now joined by Kadima and National Union.
The majority of Shas voters are themselves not Ultra-orthodox. Many of its voters are Modern Orthodox and 'traditional' Mizrahim and Sephardim. Some Druze and pragmatic Mafdalniks (supporters of the National Religious Party) also vote for Shas, due to its alignment with the promotion of an 'authentic Middle Eastern' Israeli culture, which fits well with traditional Zionist beliefs of a revival of authentic Jewish culture. Therefore, many see Shas as the leader of mainstream neo-Zionism, after the post-Zionist era of the 1990s. Many political analysts have argued that the party is moving away from its Haredi base and constructing itself into a right-of-centre Modern Orthodox Mizrahi/Sephardi Religious Zionism political party, due to its solidarity with Keynesian economics, Gush Emunim, proponents of anti-Ashkenazi Haredi worldview and Yeshiva University.
[edit] Ideology
- Mizrahi/Sephardi Ultra-orthodox Judaism.
- Promotion of Daat Torah.
- To 'return the glory to what has aged'; the role of the Torah in the modern world as a guide for dealing with Israel's social problems, such as drug addiction.
- Wants a Greater Israel, although is against the dominance of the issue within Israeli political life.
- Flexile approach towards Arabs and the Arab-Israeli conflict; concessions only when Israel's population is not endangered.
- Demands a restitution of assets stolen against the will of Mizrahi Jews by Arab States during the Jewish exodus from Arab lands
- Emphasis on Halacha and Mishpat Ivri as the sole tool of Israeli Law.
- Firmly against religious coercion, although it wants a more 'spritual state' in reference to Israel's Jewish Character. Wants to promote 'Judaism through Love and Free Choice'.
- Wants to keep and revise the Israeli status quo between Observant and Non-Observant Jews.
- Wants to keep the Tal Law, although if Yeshiva students are no longer studying, and have not done such military service, they state they must be conscripted into the IDF; most Shas MKs did military service.
- Wants to promote the union of the Jewish People under the mantle of the 'authentic Sephardi/Mizrach Torah'.
- Demands a Cultural Revolution in order to create an 'authentic' Jewish Culture under the guiding principles of Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef's Yalkut Yosef.
- Aligned with Zionism within the context of Torah and Halacha; Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Hardal.
- Advocates generous social payments to those who need and deserve it. Demands no Israeli should be without his or her basic social and economic needs in life.
- Democracy as outlined, according to the principles of the Torah.
- Proponents of economic and social anti-globalization.
- Social-conservatist; anti-gay, anti-smoking, anti-crime, anti-secularism, pro-individualism, pro-justice, pro-employment, pro-yeshiva, pro-green, pro-university, pro-welfare state.
- Anti-constitution, for fear it would enshrine a secular state and make all citizens equal, which would be likely to result in numerous legal challenges against the Ultra-orthodox's exemption from national service.
- Wants a total ingathering of the exiles from the diaspora; Aliyah.
- Welcoming towards the Ashkenazi Ultra-orthodox, although is against the promotion of Ashkenazi Judaism.
- Wants Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews to reclaim their importance within the Jewish World; wants an end to the so-called Ashkenazi dominance of Israeli avant-garde society; wants total harmonization of both populations.
[edit] Reputation for corruption
Even within the relatively murky world of Israeli politics, Shas has gained a reputation for corruption. Since 1999, several of its MKs, including Aryeh Deri, Raphael Pinhasi, Yair Lev, Ofer Hugi and Yair Peretz have been convicted of offences including fraud and forgery. In addition, current MK Shlomo Benizri is currently on trial for accepting bribes.
[edit] Election for 17th Knesset (2006)
Twelve Shas candidates were elected to the 17th Knesset:
- Eli Yishai
- Yitzhak Cohen
- Amnon Cohen
- Meshulam Nahari
- Ariel Atias
- Shlomo Benizri
- David Azoulay
- Yitzhak Vaknin
- Nissim Ze'ev
- Ya'akov Margi
- Chaim Amsalam
- Avraham Michaeli
[edit] Joining Government
Shas is part of the current governing coalition, installed on May 4, 2006, which also includes the larger Kadima and Labour parties, the smaller Gil and, since October 2006, Yisrael Beytenu. In the new government, Shas party leader Yishai is Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, and Deputy Prime Minister. Also in the cabiner are Atias as Minister of Communications, and Nahari and Yitzhak Cohen as Ministers Without Portfolio.
