A startling report published Monday alleges that young Chareidi men were paid hundreds of shekels in cash to cast ballots for designated candidates in the Likud primaries, with two of the participants openly acknowledging that they had little interest in the political process and were voting according to lists supplied to them.

The footage, revealed by reporter Yossi Abdu, was recorded during the Likud primary voting at Binyanei Ha’Uma in Yerushalayim. Two young Chareidi men are seen speaking openly about the payments they allegedly received and the prepared lists of candidates they were instructed to support.

“To tell you the truth, I came to vote. I don’t care about politics or anything, but they paid me money,” one of the young men said, declining to provide his full name.

According to the young man, Likud representatives send people to the polls and pay them in exchange for their votes in the primaries.

“I’m Chareidi and I came to vote, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m voting for someone Chareidi. I vote for whoever paid me,” he said.

His friend, identified as Elchanan, said that he, too, had received money to participate, claiming that the amount he received was even higher.

Another young man, Netanel, pulled a detailed list from his pocket containing the numbers of the candidates he had allegedly been instructed to select. The list included candidates numbered 103, 105, 143, 122, 125, 126, 127, 128, 133, 138, 144 and 208 on the national slate, along with candidate 315 in the Yerushalayim district. Of the candidates involved, the only name he recognized was Dudi Amsalem, whose name appeared first on the list.

Both young men stressed that their membership in Likud and participation in its primaries did not mean they intended to support the party in the general Knesset election.

Elchanan said explicitly that he would not vote for Likud in the general election. Netanel said he would ultimately vote according to the instructions of rabbonim, before adding: “If Ben Gvir pays me money, I’ll vote for him.”

Netanel said he had been paid 400 shekels to come and cast his ballot.

The two summed up their attitude toward their participation in particularly blunt terms: “Only money, only money. We don’t work for free, we want money, what can you do?”

Monday’s Likud primaries were open to approximately 142,000 registered party members. Among them are thousands of Chassidim and other Chareidi members representing various communities and chassidusen.

Estimates place the number of Chareidi Likud members at approximately 7,000. Because a candidate may need only several thousand votes in the primary system to secure a realistic position on the party’s Knesset slate, organized voting blocs can potentially wield significant influence over the results.

The report raises serious questions about the integrity of the primary process and whether the alleged payments represented isolated incidents or were part of a broader, organized operation.

Similar allegations of vote-buying have surfaced during party primaries in Israel in the past. However, it is unusual for alleged participants themselves to be captured on camera describing so explicitly the payments they received and acknowledging that they were voting according to instructions supplied in exchange for money.

{Matzav.com}