Launching campaign, new Haredi party slams ‘detachment, stupidity’ of existing factions

Standing at an iron gate at the side entrance to a Hasidic synagogue in Ramat Bet Shemesh on Sunday afternoon, two young men clad in the ultra-Orthodox garb of black pants, white shirts and velvet skullcaps, stood checking people’s names against a list on a tablet computer. Those allowed through descended a ramp to an underground event space beneath the synagogue, where workers and volunteers were bustling about, setting up tables of kosher food ahead of the launch of The Charedi Public’s 2026 Knesset run. One of several ultra-Orthodox parties recently established to challenge the longstanding duopoly of the Ashenazi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Sephardic Shas, The Charedi Public is hoping to win over voters tired of the status quo and provide, in the words of one senior official, “a real and viable alternative” to what many see as a disconnected and ineffective Haredi political elite. The Charedi Public advocates for secular studies, workforce participation, and IDF conscription for anybody who does not study full-time in yeshiva. It has yet to announce its full electoral slate. The several dozen people who attended the event on Sunday evening represented a cross-section of ultra-Orthodox society, English-speaking immigrants and Israelis, Hasidim with long peyot and “Lithuanians” in black fedoras, and even a sprinkling of soldiers enlisted in the IDF’s dedicated Haredi service tracks. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms Highlighting the unprecedented nature of the challenge to the existing rabbinic and political power structure, many of the guests had received messages asking them not to share the address of Sunday evening’s launch in order to prevent the kind of violent demonstrations that have disrupted previous events by pro-conscription Haredim. Moti Leitner, chairman of The Charedi Public party, party members and supporters attend the launch of the party’s election campaign ahead of the upcoming Israeli general elections in Beit Shemesh, August 23, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) With the lights dimmed, supporters in attendance were presented with the new party’s first campaign video, a gloomy elegy complaining that the Haredi community had allowed “the extremist factions to dictate our agenda” and turn its children into “the poorest in Israel.” Ascending the stage, party chairman and Beit Shemesh Deputy Mayor Moti Leitner launched into a heated speech arguing that the current Haredi political leadership had “forgotten what responsibility means.” Advertisement “For the past three years, the State of Israel has been at war on multiple fronts against enemies who rise against us to destroy us, a war that began with the terrible massacre that reminded every single one of us what responsibility truly is. Thousands of Haredim stepped up and enlisted, coming to assist and trying to help in any way they could, yet it seems the heavy disasters passed over the heads of the detached political leadership,” Leitner declared. Referring to a 2025 incident in which United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf was filmed dancing to an anti-Zionist, anti-enlistment song at his nephew’s wedding, Leitner said: “When a party leader danced to the tunes of ‘We do not believe in the rule of heretics’ at the very same time the entire nation of Israel received news of the fall of holy fighters in battle, that was not a mistake; it was a policy” of “detachment and stupidity.” Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf dances with other attendees at his nephew’s wedding, March 23, 2025. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law) The ultra-Orthodox public is currently facing an “existential danger” and “the last four years have proven that a vote for United Torah Judaism and Shas is a vote for the bullies of the Jerusalem Faction ,” Leitner asserted, referring to the extreme anti-Zionist sect that holds regular protests and riots against any ultra-Orthodox conscription. The IDF is suffering an ongoing manpower shortage, while around 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. Shas and UTJ have pushed for legislation exempting most ultra-Orthodox men from conscription and last month helped pass a law , since frozen by the High Court of Justice, halting the arrest of draft evaders. “To fight poverty, we will work to ensure our children acquire basic life skills and study math and English at a high level. We will work to expand appropriate educational frameworks, vocational training, and employment opportunities. We will replace the politics of poverty — which fights against providing tools for job market integration — and implement a plan that enables a life of Torah grounded in honorable livelihood and financial independence,” Leiner declared, standing next to an Israeli flag and a party banner bearing the slogan “This time we are taking responsibility.” Haredi schools largely do not teach the core studies necessary for students to eventually enter the workforce, in which ultra-Orthodox men are underrepresented . Advertisement Supporters of The Haredi Public applaud at launch of the ultra-Orthodox party’s election campaign in Beit Shemesh, August 23, 2026. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel) Speaking with reporters, the politician, whose party is currently polling well under the electoral threshold, said he intended to be part of the next government as part of the pro-Netanyahu bloc. Asked by The Times of Israel, Leitner denied a media report from earlier this month that his faction was established with the help of associates of Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot. Asked about reports that he is in talks with former longtime Shas minister and chairman Eli Yishai, Leitner replied that he is in touch with multiple political actors. “We demanded at the beginning to operate within the [existing] Haredi parties. When their answer was silence, they left us no choice… which is why we are launching the party today,” he added, insisting that in the coming days “quite a few rabbis, Hasidic rebbes, and community leaders will publicly declare the support they have so far given us secretly.” Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, a British-born rabbinical judge and a member of the board of directors of an NGO linked to the IDF’s Nahal Haredi battalion, sounded a similar note, telling attendees that while they had long been told that voting for the established Haredi parties constituted “a sanctification of God’s name,” this was no longer the case. Non-Haredi Jews view the ultra-Orthodox as “unwilling to share responsibility for society and responsibility for the state in which we all live.” Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, head of The Charedi Public party’s rabbinic committee, attend the kick-off of the new ultra-Orthodox faction’s Knesset campaign in Beit Shemesh, August 23, 2026. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel) “It hurts when the name of Torah becomes identified with evading responsibility, with dependence on others, and with taking without giving. We must ask ourselves if we haven’t lost something along the way,” Pfeffer said. “Tens of thousands of Haredim, hundreds of thousands of Haredim, are asking the same question and seeking an alternative, and they are right.” Speaking with The Times of Israel, Pfeffer insisted that it was necessary to present “a real and viable alternative” to Shas and UTJ, asserting that of the small number of “new and competing Haredi parties that are trying to break that monopoly, I think that we are the strongest of them by far.” Aside from The Charedi Public, there is also Hakahal, headed by Shlomo Elbaum, a member of the Bnei Brak city council — who has argued that Haredi parties need primaries rather than having candidates chosen by rabbis— and the Sephardic Achi party , founded by renegade Shas Rabbi Haim Yosef Abergel . Like The Charedi Public, they have not crossed the electoral threshold in polls so far. Advertisement “Over the last two decades, Haredi parties have actually not grown in their share of the electoral seats, which is an incredible fact to ponder upon because their share of the population has grown dramatically,” said Pfeffer. “There’s a huge amount of disillusionment, especially post-October 7, with the Haredi parties. There’s a tremendous sense of internal discontent.” This appears to be particularly true of Shas, which is currently struggling to stanch the flow of supporters to other parties , including Likud, Otzma Yehudit and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar. Referring to the internal conflicts within the mainline Haredi factions — especially between Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and party spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef— Pfeffer told The Times of Israel that “the Haredi traditional parties are in trouble vis-à-vis their own rabbinic leadership, and that opens up a lot of space for people to say, one second, what makes sense to me? “Today everybody knows that there are great rabbis and scholars, rabbinic luminaries out there who support this. I know it because I’ve spoken to them. Everybody knows it, just they don’t want to come out publicly.” ‘Math and English’: Party launches first ad campaign On Monday, the party launched an advertising campaign in Haredi neighborhoods, posting billboards declaring that “Those who do not learn should serve” and “Haredi children too need math and English.” The party’s campaign also featured slogans criticizing the current Haredi political leadership, asking, “Where were you during the last term in office? According to Army Radio, the campaign cost over NIS 2 million ($666,333). It also reported that the party held talks with the existing Haredi parties. לאחר שהודיעה על ריצה לכנסת, מפלגת ׳הציבור החרדי׳ השיקה קמפיין חוצות נרחב בערים החרדיות ובו המסרים: ״מי שלא לומד – ישרת״ ועל הצורך בשילוב לימודי ליבה ״גם ילד חרדי צריך מתמטיקה ואנגלית״ pic.twitter.com/YlhPEaWlGh Advertisement — ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) August 24, 2026 Help us report truthfully on social media As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos. This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world. If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism , please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. 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