Israeli ultra-Orthodox party, Shas, will now have a co-leadership, as its religious leader, rabbi Ovadia Yosef, announced on Wednesday.

Israeli Interior Minister and current chairman of Shas, Eli Yishai, will share power with former rogue leader, Arye Deri, who was convicted and jailed for accepting bribes in 2000, although Yishai openly expressed his dislike to the idea.

"Anything the rabbi says, we are committed to do," Yishai told Army Radio on Wednesday.

Deri, the party's founder, was also banned from politics for a period of seven years, which has just recently come to an end.

Rabbi Yosef also announced that Shas will have no chairman until the new parliamentary elections in January, but both politicians will run the party with equal responsibilities.

The decision was taken by the Shas Council of sages, although no details have emerged regarding the distribution of power between the two if Shas is included in the next coalition.

Local media speculated with the possibility that Yishai may be deposed inside the party, given the huge popularity Deri has among the party's voters despite his sentence and rabbi Yosef's promise to return Deri to his position.

The former leader also suggested that he may form his own party if he is not able to return to Shas as chairman.