Shas is a Haredi Sephardic Political party in Israel. In the election of 2003, it gained 11 Knesset seats out of 120, a significant decrease from the 17 seats it won in the election of 1999. Shas is known for its opposition to removal of religious functions and restrictions of the state, and support for generous social payments. Its views on policy toward the Palestinians has been relatively flexible, thus often allowing it to control the balance of power between Israel's two large parties, Labor and Likud.
The party's spiritual leader is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
The party was mired in scandal after the indictment and subsequent conviction and imprisonment of its former party leader, Aryeh Deri, on corruption charges. While Yosef distanced the party from Deri and installed Eli Yishai as the new party head, many Shas voters saw Deri as the victim of a racist political witch-hunt and continue to support him.