The Shas and United Torah Judaism parties signed a surplus vote agreement ahead of the 26th Knesset elections. The party leaders, Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism Chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf, emphasized that the surplus vote agreement reflects the continued cooperation between the factions, carried out according to the directives of the generation's Torah sages and elders. They further stressed that "in the next Knesset as well, they will continue to work in full cooperation on core issues concerning the preservation of the Torah world and the status of yeshiva students."