Tzeva Shachor, the breakaway chareidi party that ran on a platform opposing any draft compromise, has released its post-election summary and the headline is not the 9,308 votes it won, but the votes it says it kept at home.
With 77 percent of ballots counted, the party is nowhere near the 3.25-percent threshold needed for a Knesset seat. But in a statement released after the polls closed, Tzeva Shachor declared that the chareidi parties, Shas in particular, lost between three and four mandates in this election, and that those voters chose to stay home rather than vote.
"Tzeva Shachor is not measured only by the number of votes it received, but by its impact on the public and the message it placed at the center," the party said.
"We spoke about three to four mandates that would not vote for the chareidi parties, and that is exactly what happened. Hundreds of thousands of votes did not come home, and the demand to regulate the status of bnei yeshiva has become an issue that can no longer be pushed to the margins."
Despite winning only a few thousand votes, not even close to a single mandate, the party said it is proud of the result. "We are proud that we were a voice for this public and placed at the top of the agenda the need to anchor once and for all the status of 'his Torah is his occupation.'"
The statement included a pointed aside in parentheses: "(And if only you had allowed them to vote Tzeva Shachor, we would be in the Knesset today, but you preferred that they stay home.)"
"As long as there is no full arrangement and clear decision, we will continue to lead the struggle with strength and without fear, until the goal is achieved," the party said. "The chareidi public demands a real, full and clear arrangement."
