The Haredi candidate: "I don't think what the rabbis say is true"

Dr. Nehumi Yafe, the third candidate on the "Haredi Public" party list for the Knesset, explains in newly resurfaced footage why she defines herself as Haredi, even though she says she does not believe the rabbis' words are true and her level of compliance with Haredi norms is "very low." Yafe, a researcher at Tel Aviv University, has previously described herself as "a leftist and a religious person."

Dr. Nehumi Yafe, the third candidate on the "Haredi Public" party list for the Knesset, is heard in newly resurfaced footage explaining how she continues to define herself as Haredi, even though she says she does not accept the rabbis' words and does not feel a high commitment to Haredi norms. "Look at me, I am Haredi, even though I don't think what the rabbis say is true," Yafe said. "No Haredi politician represents me. I work at Tel Aviv University, I have Netflix. I am Haredi, I love kugel and not sushi. Haredi." Yafe argued that her Haredi identity is not based solely on the degree of compliance with accepted norms in Haredi society, but also on a deep sense of belonging and the lifestyle in which she grew up. She later admitted that her level of compliance with those norms is low: "If we look deeply at the norms, yes, I have some compliance with Haredi norms – just very low. Okay? Maybe I am an extreme case." Yafe is a political psychology researcher and faculty member at Tel Aviv University. As we have previously reported, this is not Yafe's first statement raising questions about the political and ideological identity of the new Haredi party. In an interview with the Jewish-American platform 18Forty, she explicitly defined herself as "a leftist and a religious person," and was even presented as a figure associated with the "Faithful Left" movement.