Haredi Likud advisor: Building influence from within

As Israel heads to the polls, a quiet shift has been taking shape inside the haredi world: thousands of haredim signing up to the Likud, the ruling party, in a bid to influence policy from within rather than only through the haredi parties. In an interview with Kikar Hashabbat, Elazar Gordon, a 26-year-old haredi Likud advisor who has brought hundreds of haredim into the party, explained what the move means and what comes next.

"I've been a Likud member for three years now, working and living Likud," Gordon said. "In the last two years we've seen a trend of people who wanted to influence through the ruling party, to be part of the bigger story of Likud and the State of Israel, and to advance issues close to their hearts."

"Like in America: influencing from inside a major party"

Asked why haredim should work inside Likud rather than only through the traditional haredi parties, Gordon pointed to the American model. "In the United States there are no sectarian haredi parties. Haredim there operate under the Republican or Democratic Party and influence from within. When Yahadut HaTorah was in opposition and the MKs left the government ministries, the power to influence dropped, and people looked for other ways to influence through the government."

Gordon rejected the framing of "deals" or horse-trading with ministers and MKs. "I don't like the word 'owe.' No minister owes me and I don't owe any minister. What we have here is joint advancement of a set of values that both of us believe in. We took people who are close to our positions and strengthened them so they could continue to advance the things that matter to us."

As a concrete example, he cited Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. "We supported Minister Eli Cohen, who traveled to Ukraine and sat on the borders to make sure Breslov Hasidim could fly to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. He cares about this, and we strengthened him to give him the power to do it. It's win-win for both sides."

The draft crisis: "the hot potato"

On the draft law, which has roiled the political system and is expected to dominate the next government's agenda, Gordon acknowledged it was the central crisis that pushed many young haredim to act. "It was the hot potato of the last two years. There were MKs and ministers in Likud who wanted to solve this crisis, to ensure that someone sitting and learning Torah could continue to learn, and alongside that to tailor haredi military tracks for those not learning. That the solution wasn't reached is one thing, but the will was there and it was real."

The daily pressures, the economic decrees and the sense of uncertainty among draft-age bochurim, he said, led many to seek a direct channel of influence in the ruling party.

"What happens behind the curtain belongs to the voter alone"

Asked whether those haredi sign-ups will actually pull a Likud ballot on election day, Gordon answered frankly: "The registration form has clear rules that define joining the movement. When I sign someone up, I make sure he identifies with this set of values and isn't acting from foreign motives. Beyond that, what that person does behind the curtain on election day is his alone. I'm not even legally allowed to ask him."

The network he leads has already brought in some 1,500 members, he said, and the goal for the next term is to keep growing. "To continue advancing the worldview we believe in, to increase haredi influence in the ruling party, and to ensure that the voice and needs of the public are heard in the strongest way possible."