Six lists and one big fracture: the new Haredi politics
An opinion column examining the political change in the Haredi sector with the closing of lists for the Knesset. Six Haredi lists were submitted, including two new ones: 'Hatzibur Haharedi' with women in the top five and support for core studies and enlistment, and Ahi, appealing to Mizrahi Haredim. The author argues that the real fracture is between a changing Haredi society and a party leadership that refuses to change, while criticizing Shas for clinging to extreme Lithuanian positions and losing voters to Ben Gvir.
An opinion column by Prof. Moshe Cohen-Eliya, published on Walla, examines the political change in the Haredi sector with the closing of lists for the Knesset. Six Haredi lists were submitted, including two particularly interesting new ones: 'Hatzibur Haharedi' headed by Moti Leitner, which placed two women in the top five (Dr. Nachumi Yafe and Ziva Glantz) and supports core studies and enlistment for those not studying; and the Ahi party headed by Yuval Elimelech, appealing to the Mizrahi Haredi and traditional public, also supporting enlistment and core studies. The author argues that the real story is not the expected number of seats for these small lists, but the representation crisis they reveal: a growing gap between the Haredi sector and the Haredi political establishment that speaks in its name. The traditional model of rabbinic-party mediation is eroding in the face of a changing Haredi society that includes more workers, academics, and educated women. The fracture is particularly deep in Shas, which clings to extreme Lithuanian positions on the enlistment issue and distances itself from the more flexible Mizrahi tradition. The author notes that Aryeh Deri is paying for this change, and that Shas voters are identified as leaking to Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit. The author criticizes the high electoral threshold (4 seats) that stifles processes of social change, and warns that burning the votes of the new lists will be a sign that the system no longer represents society.