Venture Capitalist Shlomo Dovrat Backs New Ultra-Orthodox Party With $500,000 Guarantee
Venture capitalist Shlomo Dovrat has provided a NIS 2 million (approximately $500,000) loan guarantee for the new ultra-Orthodox party, 'The Ultra-Orthodox Public,' led by Moti Lightner. The party, which submitted its Knesset list on Tuesday, aims to capitalize on frustration with traditional ultra-Orthodox parties and shift voting patterns within the community.
Dovrat's guarantee is the largest ever given to the party. He has a long history of public activism, heading the Aharon Institute for Economic Policy, which has published extensively on integrating the ultra-Orthodox into the workforce. Sources familiar with the matter stated Dovrat, who has been involved in ultra-Orthodox integration for over two decades, "appreciates the courage of the new ultra-Orthodox party and decided to support it."
Other prominent figures from the religious-Orthodox business sector have also provided guarantees. Efi Shkedi of Efi Capital offered NIS 200,000, while Uri Eisenberg, a social entrepreneur and businessman, and Moshe Yehuda Zonnenfeld provided NIS 180,000. Raul Stein also contributed a NIS 180,000 guarantee.
The party's funding sources have drawn significant attention, particularly amid claims that "left-wing elements are behind the party." Despite initial contacts with various political figures, the party has not joined other factions and is currently projected to fall short of the electoral threshold. However, some polls suggest it could garner tens of thousands of "protest votes," potentially drawing from Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc and presenting an additional challenge for him.
The party recently made headlines for including a woman on its slate, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, a political psychology researcher from Tel Aviv University, who was placed third. This decision followed internal and external pressure from ultra-Orthodox women. Yaffe, who has previously identified as left-wing, represents a bold move for a party whose moderate ultra-Orthodox voters typically lean right. In second place is Asher Perdi, associated with Rabbi David Leibl, who leads ultra-Orthodox "Hesder Yeshivas" and opposes the established rabbinical leadership of existing ultra-Orthodox parties.
