Shas Election Rally Funded by Public Money in Acre

A "Penitential Evening" event held in Acre, ostensibly for the High Holidays, was revealed to be a campaign rally for the Shas party, funded in part by the Acre municipality. The municipality provided sponsorship, allowed the use of the municipal stadium, and sold tickets for the event, which featured rabbis, singers, and liturgical poets.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef traveled by helicopter from Jerusalem to Acre. Both delivered political speeches for the party. Rabbi Yosef also stated that according to Halakha, it is forbidden to vote for Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit" party, endorsing only Shas, all while the event was publicly funded.

MK Oded Forer of Yisrael Beiteinu criticized the use of public funds, stating, "Public money is not Deri's father's money, and the Acre municipality is not Shas's petty cash. If you want to run an election campaign, fine, let Shas pay for it out of its own pocket. Turning a publicly funded event into a platform for party propaganda is crossing a red line." He added that Shas has become accustomed to living at the public's expense and forgotten that the money belongs to the citizens.

This incident follows a previous report two weeks prior, where a professional conference by the Jerusalem Religious Council was allegedly used by Shas for election promotion. The Acre event occurred after the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara prohibited a conference in memory of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in Jerusalem shortly before elections, due to concerns of political exploitation by Shas.