Shas Party Faces Internal Disputes but Remains Politically Unpredictable, Analyst Says

Shlomo Filber, a media strategist, analyzed the current anger among the ultra-Orthodox public toward the Shas party and explained why pollsters often misjudge its electoral strength. Filber noted that Shas voters rarely participate in surveys, making it difficult for pollsters to accurately predict the party's number of Knesset seats. He recalled that pollsters, including the late Kamil Fox on Channel 13, consistently underestimated Shas’s support by as much as four seats. Filber emphasized that those who suddenly reduce Shas’s strength by 40% are significantly mistaken, as internal disputes and frustrations over achievements are common but less dramatic than portrayed.

Filber detailed two main internal conflicts within Shas: first, resentment over the failure to appoint the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as president of the Council of Torah Sages; second, a budgetary dispute involving Rabbi Abergil, head of the "Kol Rina" institutions in Netivot, and Shas’s educational network officials. Rabbi Abergil and his supporters have threatened to form a rival party that could harm Shas’s standing. In the last elections, Shas received 10,612 votes in Netivot, roughly a quarter of a Knesset seat out of 11 seats nationwide.

Despite these tensions, commentators on various channels prematurely predicted a loss of four seats for Shas, a forecast Filber disputes. He also noted the surprising support Shas has recently received from left-wing commentators. The situation remains fluid, and further developments will be monitored. Separately, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu expressed strong condemnation of sexual violence, stating "Rape is murder."