New Haredi Faction Demands Representation in United Torah Judaism and Shas Ahead of Elections

A newly formed political faction called "The Haredi Public" has united tens of thousands of Haredi Jews across Israel to demand representation on the electoral lists of the established Haredi parties United Torah Judaism and Shas ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections. Launching a campaign under the slogan "No Haredi Party Without the Haredi Public," the faction is focusing its efforts in major Haredi population centers including Bnei Brak, Jerusalem, and Elad, investing over two million shekels.

The campaign highlights three main challenges facing the Haredi community: persecution of Torah scholars, extreme poverty, and rising dropout rates from religious study. Representatives from dozens of Haredi communities and independent local factions have been negotiating with senior leaders of the traditional Haredi parties for months, seeking to include new, younger representatives who are closely connected to grassroots realities and have demonstrated practical problem-solving abilities.

Due to a lack of progress in these talks, the communities decided to consolidate under the single political faction "The Haredi Public" to secure proper representation and address the community’s fundamental issues. Moti Leitner, the faction’s chairman and deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh, emphasized the urgency, stating that "thousands of yeshiva students and Torah scholars have become targets, dropout rates are soaring, and families are collapsing under economic burdens." He added that the faction aims to strengthen the leadership of United Torah Judaism and Shas by reconnecting it with the grassroots and presenting practical solutions.

Leitner, 33, who leads the local Haredi faction "Derech" in Beit Shemesh and has two council members, stressed the necessity of adequate representation to confront existential threats to the Haredi community and ensure the flourishing of Torah life in Israel. "There is no Haredi party without the Haredi public," he declared.

The faction’s campaign and demands reflect growing dissatisfaction within parts of the Haredi community toward the established political leadership and a desire for new voices to address pressing social and economic challenges.