After months of infighting and internal bickering, the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) United Torah Judaism party kicked off its election campaign in earnest this week under the slogan “We are all haredim.”
On Tuesday, the rabbinic leaders of two of the largest hassidic communities in the country called on the haredi community to enlist in the electoral campaign to increase the community’s political strength.
Earlier this week, spiritual leader of the non-hassidic haredi world Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman declared that it was obligatory for the ultra-Orthodox community to fight the creation of laws than ran contrary to the Torah.
Haredi political and rabbinic leaders alike have been concerned about the numerous political fault lines that have cracked open in the run-up to the January poll, and there is a concern within UTJ ranks that the divisions will lead to decreased grassroots activism, a split of the haredi vote and poor voter turnout on election day.
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