Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas party. [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg/Getty Images]
Aryeh Deri, a key ally of outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party’s list for the incoming Knesset on Sunday and will remain party chairman, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Lawmaker Moshe Abutbul and candidate Dror Amos also withdrew from the list, clearing the way for Uriel Buso and Yossi Taieb to enter parliament. Shas will retain all six seats it won in the Oct. 27 elections.
Deri had offered to step down as chairman after Shas fell from 11 seats in the previous Knesset to six. The party’s top religious authority, the Council of Torah Sages, rejected his request and asked him to stay on. Deri agreed and will lead the party from outside parliament, the channel said.
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Shas recommended Netanyahu for the premiership during President Isaac Herzog’s consultations with parliamentary factions, citing his commitment to resolving the legal status of military service exemptions for Jewish seminary students.
Herzog formally tasked Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government on Sunday. Factions representing 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, while 46 others backed Netanyahu. A seven-member faction declined to recommend a candidate.
Eisenkot’s bloc lacks a parliamentary majority of its own, leaving him to seek support from other parties. Two Arab lists hold 19 seats in the Knesset, and Eisenkot’s allies are divided over whether to bring them into a coalition. He has 28 days to form a government, with a possible extension of up to 14 days.
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