For the first time, a fervently Orthodox rabbi of Ethiopian descent joined the Knesset.
Rabbi Mazor Bayana was sworn in Monday as a new Shas Party lawmaker. He replaces Rabbi Shlomo Benizri, who was forced to step down after being convicted of bribery.
Bayana, who like all Shas leaders is fervently Orthodox, is the third Ethiopian Jew to serve in the Israeli parliament. The other two were secular members of the center-left Labor and centrist Kadima parties.
