[6] He was a representative of an independent list identified with Kadima and was supported by Yisrael Beiteinu and the Labor Party.

[5] In 2012, he was investigated on suspicion of taking a bribe during the 2008 elections, but the Northern District Prosecutor's Office decided to close the case.

[3][6] That year, Shohat stirred controversy when he decided that a medical school should be built in the city that would attract many non-Jewish students.

[8] In December 2014 he indicated that though he considers "the absorption of the wounded Syrians a moral and Jewish obligation of the first degree", he wanted the Israeli Health Ministry to, instead of directing wounded Syrians to hospitals in the North of Israel that are facing financial issues, send them to better-equipped hospitals in central Israel.

[6][11] His decision permitted MK Robert Ilatov (the next in line on the Yisrael Beiteinu list) to remain in the Knesset.