New Haredi Party Launches Campaign

A new ultra-Orthodox political party formally launched its campaign Sunday for Israel's upcoming Knesset elections, positioning itself as an alternative to the established haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism.

HaTzibur HaHaredi (The Haredi Public) held its official launch event in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, drawing hundreds of party activists, rabbis and community figures. The party announced it will field a diverse slate of candidates representing Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Hasidic communities within the haredi world.

The party's platform centers on protecting the world of Torah study while offering concrete solutions to contentious issues that have increasingly isolated the ultra-Orthodox community. These include military conscription, the integration of math and English studies in haredi elementary schools, and employment opportunities for haredi men. Full details of the party's positions will be released in coming weeks.

In his launch speech, party chairman Moti Leitner delivered a sharp critique of the current haredi political leadership, accusing it of abandoning responsibility and adopting extremist positions that have turned the ultra-Orthodox into "the most persecuted and reviled community in the country."

"Responsibility has been a supreme value for haredim throughout the generations. Unfortunately, the veteran political leadership has forgotten what responsibility means," Leitner said.

He pointed to the contrast between ordinary haredim who volunteered and enlisted after the October 7 massacre and the political leadership's response. "Thousands of haredim mobilized and enlisted, came to help and tried to assist in every way they could, but it seems the heavy disasters skipped over the heads of the disconnected political leadership," he said.

Leitner specifically referenced an incident in which a haredi party leader danced to a song declaring "we do not believe in the rule of the heretics" at the same time the nation was learning of soldiers killed in battle. "This was not a mistake, but policy - a policy that turned disconnection and foolishness into a way of life," he said.

He warned that the haredi community faces an existential threat, with its streets "handed over to extremists competing over who can exercise more severe violence," yeshiva students pursued by authorities, and daycare budgets frozen while the leadership focuses on preserving its power rather than finding solutions.

"We are in the midst of a head-on collision between haredi society and the entire people of Israel. A collision whose results will be disastrous for us, for members of the haredi public, and for the entire State of Israel," Leitner said.

He blamed this crisis on what he called a dangerous radicalization process within the established haredi parties, claiming that representatives of United Torah Judaism and Shas "were taken captive by the extremists of the Jerusalem Faction," referring to a hardline anti-Zionist haredi group. "The Jerusalem Faction transformed from a violent and marginal faction into the policy-makers for the existing political representation, and we are all experiencing the results on our own flesh," he said.

"A vote for United Torah Judaism and Shas is a vote for the thugs of the Jerusalem Faction," Leitner declared.

The party's proposed solution breaks sharply with the current haredi political consensus. "In order for the society of Torah scholars to continue to exist and flourish in the Land of Israel, we must look reality in the eye and deal with the conscription crisis, poverty and discrimination," Leitner said.

"Whoever studies will receive absolute and complete protection. Whoever does not study — will serve. Not just one haredi brigade will be established — an entire haredi division will be established. This is the only way to protect the world of Torah."