A “senior Agudas Yisrael official” told Ladaat that in light of recent polls showing Yahadut Hatorah may lose votes to some of the new parties, it may emerge from elections with only six seats. The official stated that if this is the case, Agudas Yisrael will not rotate with Degel Hatorah, which will then only be left with two of the six slots.

In line with the agreement between Agudas Yisrael and Degel Hatorah, the split is 60-40 in favor of Agudas Yisrael. If the party emerges with only six seats it will not be the first time that a disagreement arises between the chassidish and litvish factions.

The current agreement states in such a case four Agudas Yisrael MKs would serve in the first half of the Knesset’s tenure and then one person would step down to permit the entry of a Degel representative.

The source is reported saying that it is the Degel faction that lost voters and is incapable of making peace with the “other faction” and as such, it is the Degel faction that must pay the price of the loss.

When the anonymous source was asked if there is concern that Agudas Yisrael will also lose votes, perhaps Chabad voters moving to Eli Yishai’s Ha’Am Itanu party, the source states that a few votes may be lost, not more, and the number may jeopardize receiving an eighth seat but not the seventh seat. Thus the source makes it clear Agudas Yisrael feels if the party drops from seven to six, the blame rests exclusively with Degel.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)