Three members of the Shas slate in Kiryat Gat have announced that they are leaving Shas and switching their support to the "Ahi" party.
The new party, headed by Rabbi Haim Yosef David Abergel, plans to run in the upcoming Knesset elections.
Those leaving include Shas's two representatives on the Kiryat Gat City Council, Ofer Reuven and Shlomi Batito, as well as slate member attorney Nissim Shai Elmakayes.
Israel Hayom reported Monday morning that the move was announced at a public event in Kiryat Gat, where the three declared that they were joining the Ahi party.
Ahi described the development as part of a broader wave of changes among activists traditionally affiliated with Shas.
Rabbi Yuval Elimelech, who heads Ahi's slate, said the move was "one in a series of incidents" in which longtime activists have abandoned Shas across the country. According to him, "The straw that broke the camel's back was Shas' position in joining the Ashkenazi haredi parties in their fight against IDF enlistment."
Rabbi Elimelech added that his party presents a fundamentally different ideological position and calls "clearly and unequivocally for the enlistment of every person who is not studying in a yeshiva."
"Anyone who has seen Shas' decline in the polls over the recent period has now received further evidence of the trend among Shas voters," he said, adding that a broad group of activists who no longer feel they have a place in the movement are choosing to join Ahi.