Shas Party Misrepresents Military Votes in Election Campaign Claim

The Shas party, led by MK Aryeh Deri, released a controversial election campaign video claiming that over 30,000 IDF soldiers and career military personnel voted for Shas in the recent elections, citing "official data." The video, which featured a religious soldier returning home for Sabbath prayers, was removed following a directive from the Central Elections Committee due to legal concerns about using the military in political propaganda and premature display of party list letters.

The claim was scrutinized and found to be inaccurate. While it is true that approximately 31,378 votes for Shas came from "double envelope" ballots, these ballots are not exclusive to soldiers. Double envelopes are used by voters who cannot vote at their assigned polling stations, including soldiers, medical staff, hospitalized patients, prisoners, diplomats abroad, residents of sheltered housing, seafarers, and others.

In the last election, nearly 459,000 votes were cast via double envelopes, with significant numbers also voting for other parties, including over 17,000 for United Torah Judaism and more than 23,000 for Arab parties such as Ra'am, Hadash-Ta'al, and Balad. This diversity indicates that the 31,000 votes for Shas from double envelopes cannot be equated solely with military voters.

The Central Elections Committee's order to remove the video was based on prohibitions against using the IDF for election propaganda and displaying party list letters before the official campaign period. Shas did not respond to requests for comment. The investigation concludes that Shas's claim is misleading, conflating votes from various groups with those of IDF soldiers and career personnel.