Shas and the Center Party were the last two parties to register with the Elections Board before the deadline last night, bringing the total of parties set to run in the upcoming election to 29.
The Shas list was the center of much controversy yesterday, but Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef refused to cede to pressures to include supporters of former leader Aryeh Deri in realistic places. Even the threatened resignation of Rabbi Shalom Cohen from the Shas Council of Torah Sages did not have its desired effect, and former Minister Eli Suissa, MK Rachamim Maloul, and others were left off the list. The Shas list, currently running in voter surveys at the 9-MK level - it has 17 MKs in the outgoing Knesset - is headed by Ministers Eli Yeshai, Shlomo Benizri, and Nissim Dahan.
The Shas list was the center of much controversy yesterday, but Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef refused to cede to pressures to include supporters of former leader Aryeh Deri in realistic places. Even the threatened resignation of Rabbi Shalom Cohen from the Shas Council of Torah Sages did not have its desired effect, and former Minister Eli Suissa, MK Rachamim Maloul, and others were left off the list. The Shas list, currently running in voter surveys at the 9-MK level - it has 17 MKs in the outgoing Knesset - is headed by Ministers Eli Yeshai, Shlomo Benizri, and Nissim Dahan.