Haredi Likud Members Form New Advocacy Group in Israel

A broad organizing effort is taking shape within Israel's ruling Likud party as ultra-Orthodox members from various communities unite to form an ideological advocacy group focused on the needs of modern haredim.

The initiative, operating under the name "Haredi Kehilati" (Community Haredi), launched several months ago and represents a significant shift in how ultra-Orthodox members engage with the ruling party. While Likud has long included haredi members, they typically organized in separate groups serving their own specific interests. This new effort aims to create a unified voice for what organizers call "modern" or "working" haredim—ultra-Orthodox Jews who participate in the workforce and seek different policy priorities than those emphasized by traditional haredi political parties. Hundreds and even thousands of such voters have been joining Likud with the explicit goal of ensuring their community's needs receive attention.

Leading the new ideological caucus are Simcha Bernstein and Yisrael Shweibel, well-known community activists previously associated with Degel HaTorah, one of the main Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox parties. Their stated objective is to place the actual needs of the haredi public at the top of the agenda—issues such as core curriculum studies (known in Israel as "mamachim"), girls' education, and related concerns. The group maintains strong political support for the right-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Kikar Hashabbat, a series of quiet meetings have been held in recent weeks across multiple communities in preparation for the Likud primaries, with many communities already joining the initiative and more expected to follow.

More than a thousand Likud members who previously registered with the party have already joined the new organization. The effort operates through what organizers describe as a "community matching" model, in which each participating community recruits its own members and acquaintances who are already registered Likud voters and brings them into the initiative.

The project represents the first attempt of its kind to create a unified, ideologically-driven haredi advocacy group within Likud that works on behalf of the entire ultra-Orthodox public rather than specific subgroups. Its emergence reflects growing diversity within Israel's haredi community and the desire of some segments to pursue their interests through mainstream political parties rather than exclusively through sectoral haredi parties.