Shas

Shas (Hebrew: ש״ס‎, an acronym for Shomrei Sfarad, lit. Sfarad's guards (of the Torah)) is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remains its spiritual leader today, it primarily represents the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews.

Originally a small ethnic political group, Shas is currently Israel's fourth largest party in the Knesset, and, according to The Jewish Daily Forward, "the unchallenged kingmaker of Israeli politics". It has joined several coalition governments with both Labor and Likud since 1984. In Benjamin Netanyahu's present coalition government the party holds four cabinet posts.

Read more about Shas:  History, Ideology, Elections and Influence, Controversy, Current Knesset Members