The Haredi Sephardi Jews of Israel had also at one time followed the leadership of the Moetzet of Agudat Yisrael when it was still a body that generally spoke for most of Israel's Haredim. Eventually, however, the Haredi Sephardim broke with their Ashkenazi counterparts (again because of the dominance of the Polish Hasidic groups), and established the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages"), which in turn became the source for the formulation and expression of the policies and agenda of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef became the main leadership figure of this council.