Eli Yishai Returns to Politics, Exploring Alliance with New Haredi Party

Eli Yishai, former chairman of the Shas party for fourteen years, is making a political comeback and is currently considering an alliance with the new Haredi party "The Haredi Public." This party advocates for genuine recruitment of Haredi men who do not engage in religious studies and aims to represent working Haredim. Several meetings have recently taken place between Yishai and representatives of the new party, with political sources expressing confidence that this partnership could be a winning combination.

The joint run is also intended to appeal to disillusioned Shas voters dissatisfied with the party's current leadership, as reflected in recent polls. However, Yishai's positions differ from those of Shas on recruitment and other issues. This is not Yishai's first attempt at independent political activity; after being ousted from Shas in 2014, he ran with the "Yachad" party in cooperation with Rabbi Mazuz, which garnered 125,000 votes but failed to enter the Knesset.

Political insiders believe the alliance between Yishai and "The Haredi Public" could surpass the electoral threshold, but no final decision has been made. Both Yishai and the new party declined to comment when approached for a statement.