Shas

Shas (an acronym for Shomeri Torah Sefaradim, English "Torah-Observant Sephardim") is an ultra-Orthodox political party in Israel.

The party primarily represents the interests of Haredi Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. It usually gains around seven seats in the Knesset (though in recent elections, most recently in the 25th Knesset, it has increased its membership to 11 seats) and usually ends up part of the governing coalition regardless of which main party (Labor or Likud) is leading it (though it tends to align with Likud more of the time).

Although disagreeing with the United Torah Judaism alliance on issues, Shas tends to vote with the alliance in most cases due to their common interests in representing the most observant in the Jewish community, and during the 2019 election the two groups formed an electoral alliance to maximize representation in the Knesset (a formal alliance did not continue in subsequent elections, but in the 25th Knesset elections the parties agreed to what is called a "surplus vote agreement" to avoid wasting votes).