The Sephardic-haredi Shas party, after most of the votes have been counted, has gained significantly both in comparison to the previous election and in comparison to all of the pre-election polls.
Speaking to 103 FM Radio, Shas MK Michael Malkieli said, "We expected that there would be a rise, we saw it throughout the entire period. We bless the nation of Israel, that it should have a government which takes care of it, of the periphery, of the weak."
"There is no doubt that Shas grew significantly, [Shas chief] Aryeh Deri united the entire Sephardic public into a single movement, the heritage of Rabbi Ovadia [Yosef]."
Malkieli emphasized, "The public gave us a lot of power, we will need to prove [ourselves]. Let's remember that Shas once had 17 seats - there is a very large public."
He added, "I look at the cities, in most cities in the periphery, and also in Jerusalem, we grew significantly. People saw a dependable, stable party, a party which really fought over the past year-and-a-half, perfectly, with this government. We never zigzagged."