In what some may interpret as a false modesty, when some chareidi lawmakers are asked to express their opinion regarding the party makeup and lineup, they usually deflect the question by explaining the Gedolei Torah make such decision.
They pious nature however does not seem to deter them from the escalation in infighting that may result in United Torah Judaism splitting back into Degel HaTorah, the litvish faction and Agudas Yisrael, the chassidishe faction.
With the recent announced resignation of Degel leader Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, the fight is underway to fill his seat. On the Agudah side of the equation, it appears that Meir Porush will return to Knesset and Rav Yaakov Litzman is signaling he does not plan to contest, explaining the Jerusalem mayoral race was a personal race, seeking to be elected on his own merit, but in Knesset, Porush is a name on the party roster.
In the meantime, there are tensions between Litzman and Degel’s Rav Moshe Gafne regarding a joint or split slate and who, if either, will head the Knesset Finance Committee in the 18th Knesset.
It would appear that the beating taken by the frum community in the Jerusalem mayoral race has done little if anything to lift the chareidi MKs to a loftier plain towards seeing the bigger picture.
On the Sephardi chareidi front, while Shas plans a major change in the party lineup, leaders are optimistic and hope to earn 15 or more seats in the upcoming Knesset. Polls on the other hand are less optimistic regarding the Ashkenazi chareidim, who will definitely lose at least one seat if they opt to run independent of one another. The question remains if they can place differences aside and run on a joint ticket for the common good, or will the general election be a Jerusalem mayoral race two?
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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6 Responses
why would they lose a seat if they run as 2 parties? I dont get that
אחדות שלום תורה אחת לכל ישראל
tina, to get a seat in the knesset you need to meet a certain # of votes, if they are split into 2 the extra numbers will be under the voting margin for both parties and a lost seat.
Actually they could lose all their seats as separate parties, since one basically needs three seats to reach the minimum.
It would be better if they accepted Shas larger size, and settled for seats in a combined list with Shas, under Sefardi leadership.
Why not form one united coalition and have a primary within that coalition to see how many seats each faction gets?
Jews don’t need this type of fighting not when the specter of Muslim anti-semitism coupled with terrorism is a very real threat no matter where a single Jew may be. We need as many zechusim as we can get.