A commentary on Shas says the party may look absent from the current election campaign, with no prominent slogans, no social media push, and little effort to make daily headlines. But that quiet approach reflects one of its main strengths: Shas has one of Israel’s most stable voter bases, and many supporters decide years in advance, as part of a family, community, and religious identity.
According to the piece, rabbis, schools, synagogues, and local communities do work that no digital campaign can replace. For that reason, Shas is described as focusing less on persuasion and more on retention, with the main goal of making sure traditional and ultra-Orthodox voters actually show up at the ballot box.
The article argues that the party’s real problem is not the next election or whether it will clear the electoral threshold, but whether it will remain relevant in 10 years. Younger Sephardi ultra-Orthodox voters are said to be different from the generation that founded Shas, with more of them entering the workforce, studying new professions, using social media, and caring about housing, cost of living, employment, and quality of life.
At the same time, the traditional electorate that long served as Shas’s natural pool of support has become more politically diverse. The piece says that if Shas wants to grow, it will need to speak more to the next generation, renew the social banner that defined it for years, and offer a vision that connects religious and traditional identity with Israel’s economic and social challenges in 2025. Its power, the article concludes, has never come from a successful campaign but from belonging, and the party must make sure the next generation feels that same connection.
