State of the Chareidi Nation

What’s at stake for chareidim in Israel’s upcoming elections? 

The 40 political parties who fielded slates in the November 1 Israeli election should be envious of the high turnout, and loyalty that chareidi voters show to chareidi parties, even as most voters yawn from election fatigue. Turnout in Tuesday’s fifth election since March 2020 will be critical in determining whether Israel can break its paralyzing political impasse, and for the chareidim, the results will go a long way in shaping how its many needs will be met

The Central Bureau of Statistics made a splash with its semi-annual census just before Rosh Hashanah showing that Israel’s Jewish population had surpassed the seven million mark. Simultaneously, the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, Israel’s only think tank with an exclusive focus on chareidi society, reported that chareidim now comprise 1.3 million souls — or 18.5% of the Jewish population.

Some one million chareidim heave reached voting age, yet Israel’s two chareidi parties have never garnered more than 627,290 votes in any previous election — a number that fell precipitously to 564,399 in the last election.

If all one million chareidim voted, and voted for chareidi parties, they could garner close to 30 seats instead of the current 16. What’s preventing chareidi demographic clout from being transformed into greater political power? What considerations — religious, ideological, and financial — are pulling chareidi voters in different directions? Next week’s election — the nation’s fifth in less than three years — could define whether chareidi society flourishes or flounders in the years ahead.

Most Israeli voters hope and pray that the November 1 election will produce a conclusive answer as to whether Binyamin Netanyahu gets one more chance to lead, or if his time has come to get out of the way.

While the election is a matter of political life or death for Bibi, it is equally critical for the Knesset’s two chareidi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ). Both parties have faithfully cast their lot with Bibi and his center-right Likud Party, only to end up as political castaways, marginalized in the opposition for the last 18 months, while a left-wing government took dead aim at everything sacred to them.

Led by Naftali Bennett, and followed up by Yair Lapid, the government has watered down the status quo on Shabbos, kashrus, and conversions. The Ministry of Finance, wrapped up in Avigdor Lieberman’s bear hug, targeted chareidim for budget cuts for everything from day care to public transportation, and imposed higher taxes on goods consumed disproportionately by chareidi families, such as disposable cutlery and soft drinks.

“Getting a seat at the table” has become popular political parlance, and in a parliamentary democracy, the opposition gets no seats at the cabinet table, which is Israel’s center of power. The Likud’s decision to boycott Knesset committees to protest how Bennett and Lapid wrested power harmed chareidi interests as well. Shas and UTJ adhered to the boycott, out of loyalty to Bibi, but when you don’t even have a seat at committee hearings, you have surrendered any influence you might have over legislative debate.