MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Israel
Index
Shas resulted in 1984 from allegations of Agudat Israel's
inadequate representation of ultra-Orthodox Sephardim in the
Council of Torah Sages, the party organization, and educational and
social welfare institutions. The leader of Shas was Rabbi Yitzhak
Peretz, who served as minister of interior in the National Unity
Government until his protest resignation in 1987. As a theocratic
party, Shas depended heavily for policy direction on its patrons,
former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yoseph, and Rabbi Eliezer
Shakh, former Ashkenazi head of the Agudat Israel-dominated Council
of Torah Sages. Rabbi Shakh sanctioned the formation of Shas and
its division into separate Sephardi and Ashkenazi factions. In the
negotiations to form the National Unity Government in 1984, Shas
outmaneuvered the NRP and gained the Ministry of Interior
portfolio. As minister of interior, Rabbi Peretz became a source of
controversy as a result of his promoting religious fundamentalism
in general and the narrow partisan interests of Shas in particular.
Unlike Agudat Israel, Shas saw no contradiction between its
religious beliefs and Zionism. It was far more anti-Arab than
Agudat Israel and sought increased representation for its adherents
in all government bodies, in Zionist institutions, and in the
Jewish Agency. Despite its ethnic homogeneity, Shas was not immune
from bitter infighting over the spoils of office, as shown by the
rivalry between factions led by Rabbi Peretz and Rabbi Arieh Dari,
leader of the party's apparatus, who remained director general of
the Ministry of Interior until the National Unity Government's term
ended in 1988. Shas gained four Knesset seats in the 1984 elections
and increased the size of its delegation to six in 1988. In late
1988, it actually held eight Knesset seats when combined with the
two seats gained by Degel HaTorah, a Shas Ashkenazi faction formed
in 1988.
Data as of December 1988
|
|