What Really Lies Behind the Mass Enlistment of Haredim in Likud?

About 30,000 Haredim have registered as Likud members, out of some 140,000 eligible to vote in the primaries in ten days. The article reveals that the motive is not ideology but pragmatic needs: transportation lines, budgets, help with the IDF. The Seret Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty added 2,000 members, and a center member entered the institutions. A Haredi activist from Beit Shemesh admits: power in Likud allows pressure on ministers like Miri Regev and Israel Katz.

About 30,000 Haredim have registered as Likud members, out of some 140,000 eligible to vote in the primaries, which will take place in ten days. The article reveals that the motive is not Likud ideology or the draft law, but pragmatic needs: new transportation lines, budgets for educational institutions, help with IDF placements, and flights to Uman. The Seret Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty from Haifa added 2,000 members, and a senior figure in its institutions, Yonatan Radner, entered as a Likud center member. A journalist from the dynasty explains that Haredi MKs are not doing their job, so they turned to Likud as a conduit to centers of power. A Haredi activist from Beit Shemesh, who reached a position of power in Likud, admits that he and his colleagues show no interest in the Likud worldview and use power to pressure ministers like Miri Regev and Israel Katz. Regev's office denied the claims, and Katz's office said that the requests are transferred to the IDF for review. The article demonstrates how various Haredi groups, including Breslov, Gur, Chabad, and Karlin, operate to achieve local interests through the party.