Ultra-Orthodox Politician Warns of Voter Apathy Ahead of Elections
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Ultra-Orthodox politician warns of low voter turnout.
- Failure to vote would be a desecration of God's name.
- Community's natural growth must translate to votes.
- Internal criticism over draft exemptions is a factor.
- New religious parties challenge established ones.
- Party claims success in blocking secularizing legislation.
Yaakov Asher, the chairman of the United Torah Judaism party, has expressed concern over potential voter apathy within the ultra-Orthodox community in the upcoming elections. In leaked recordings from conversations with activists, Asher warned that a failure to translate the community's natural population growth into votes would be a "desecration of God's name." He urged activists to mobilize voters, emphasizing that the demographic increase over the past four years should translate into tens of thousands of additional votes for religious parties.
Asher's remarks come amid internal criticism within the ultra-Orthodox public regarding the failure of religious parties to legislate exemptions from military service for yeshiva students. The emergence of new ultra-Orthodox parties also presents a challenge to the established ones.
During the recorded conversations, Asher also highlighted perceived achievements of United Torah Judaism during the current Knesset term. He claimed the party successfully blocked numerous legislative proposals from parties like Yesh Atid and the Labor Party, which he characterized as attempts to secularize the country and make it more like other European nations.
