Facing Electoral Decline, Shas Mulls Resurrecting Rabbi Yosef

Jerusalem, April 26 – The party that functioned for many years as a kingmaker in Israel’s governing coalitions has fallen on hard electoral times, and is considering bringing its charismatic leader back from the dead to help similarly resurrect its hopes for greater representation in the next Knesset.

Shas, which represents Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent, has long tapped into a rich vein of resentment at perceived discrimination against Sephardim by the dominant Ashkenazi, or European, economic and political elite. Since the 1980’s, with spiritual leader and former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Ovadia Yosef at the helm, the party successfully parlayed its influence into key government appointments and funding for its institutions such as yeshivas, soup kitchens, and social service organizations. But a poor showing in last year’s elections, followed by relegation to the opposition, and the death of Rabbi Yosef, have left Shas reeling, and contemplating an unprecedented move in Israeli politics: the actual resurrection of a deceased figure.

Analysts are divided on the wisdom of the move. “It’s been tried before, and you can get certain mileage out of it, especially if it can be played up over the long term,” says Augustine Hippo, who writes about the nexus of religion and politics in the region. “But Shas’s concerns are much more in the immediate term; they will have to address basic survival before they can embark on any large-scale enterprise. That situation also has precedent, but just because someone else made it work doesn’t mean they can pull it off, as well.”

Mendel Schneerson, who directs a religious think tank, disagrees. “There’s serious potential for the resurrection of a leader, and if they do it right, Shas can really restore the crown to its former glory, as they like to say.” He declined to comment on whether other parties or groups might make similar use of the strategy.

Party officials concede that simply bringing back Maran – “our master” – as they call him, will not be enough. “The last election results occurred when Maran was very much alive,” says MK Arye Deri, one of Shas’s senior political figures. “We would still have plenty of work to do on the ground once he comes back. But the morale boost could sufficient to propel Shas back to prominence.”

“Of course we have to continue to remedy what brought about the decline in the first place, and suffer the consequences,” he noted. “That will just have to be our cross to bear.”