As the debate over the draft of Charedi youth, general education and government funding dominates Israeli politics ahead of the October 27 election, a new political movement called HaTzibur HaCharedi (“The Charedi Public”) is attempting to rewrite the relationship between the Charedi community and the state – under the slogan “This Time, We Take Responsibility,” splashed across building banners and bus ads.

In an interview with Belaaz recorded about a month ago, Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer – chairman of the movement’s Vaad Rabbanim (rabbinical committee), an English-speaking community rabbi and head of the Iyun Institute – laid out a platform that rejects what he calls the “stipend politics” of the traditional Charedi parties in favor of civic responsibility, employment opportunities and structured military service.

Moving Beyond “Stipend Politics”

For decades, the traditional Charedi parties have operated under a transactional framework: entering government coalitions primarily to secure budgets, yeshiva stipends and blanket draft deferrals. According to Rabbi Pfeffer, that approach has created deep alienation between the Charedi community and the rest of Israeli society.

“How do the parties currently speak? They say, ‘We are in government in order to get money for ourselves,'” Rabbi Pfeffer said. “What this party is saying is that we’re in government because there’s a partnership going on. We’re a part of Israel. We want Israel to flourish.”

“What we’re saying is, we don’t want handouts – we want opportunities,” he stressed. “We want to be able to go to work.” The Charedi community, he argued, has grown too big to live in its own enclave, and self-reliance is a value in its own right: “Self-reliant, for us, is living a dignified life. To have an entire society that’s dependent on handouts – it’s undignified.”

Education: Bridging Limudei Kodesh and General Studies

A central pillar of the platform is schooling. Many Charedi parents – particularly of boys – want a framework that offers a serious general education, like English and math, alongside limudei kodesh, as is common in the Diaspora. In Israel, such schools depend on government support, and Rabbi Pfeffer says the system is stacked against them.

“There are many who are trying to open such schools, but it’s difficult when you’re doing that against a government that’s actively blocking them,” he said. “It’s both the Education Ministry and it’s the municipal branches of government… The current politics is actively blocking the establishment of these schools.”

The Draft: “You Cannot Hide Behind Full-Time Torah Students”

On the most explosive issue in the campaign – the draft – Rabbi Pfeffer called for a clear, principled distinction between those learning full-time and those who are not, which he said was the explicit position of the Gedolei Yisrael of previous generations.

“I’m talking about Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, I’m talking about the Steipler, Rav Shach, Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman,” he said. “All of them said unequivocally that there’s no space to give deferrals or exemptions from army service for Charedim who are not learning full-time.”

He recalled Rav Shach’s response to someone who had left yeshiva before Seder Shlishi – the third seder of the day – and asked to remain on the exemption list: “If you have to go to the army, then so be it. You cannot hide behind the full-time Torah students and be exempt from the army at their expense – and it’s entirely at their expense.”

It was the Steipler, he added, who said that Charedim on the exemption list while not learning full-time are undermining the very exemption meant for real Torah students. “It makes no sense. It’s not moral,” Rabbi Pfeffer said. “The exemption from the army is reserved for those who are true full-time Torah students. Everybody else needs to be in the IDF, sharing the burden and sharing the privilege of defending Israel.”

Asked directly whether someone who is not learning full-time should face arrest, he was unequivocal: “He shouldn’t be arrested. He should be in the army.”

On existing Charedi units in the IDF, such as Netzach Yehuda and Tomer, Rabbi Pfeffer acknowledged that trust between the Charedi public and the army remains insufficient “because it’s hard for the army to keep their own regulations.” The answer, he argued, is Charedi representatives in the Knesset exercising oversight from within: “They’ll do a much better job when we’ll have representatives in government that are pushing them to do the job properly.”

Rabbi Pfeffer Slams Comparison of Charedi Draft Evasion to Arab Citizens: “We Are Not Arabs, We Are Jews”

Rabbi Pfeffer rejected the argument, raised by some Charedi politicians, that equates Charedi non-service with that of Israel’s Arab citizens. “I think that’s a disgraceful argument, because we are not Arabs. We are Jews. This is our nation-state,” he said. “Every time I hear this I cringe.”

He urged the Charedi community to identify with soldiers, reservists and their families after the war. “It’s our joint army. We all need the protection of the IDF. We’re all in this together,” Rabbi Pfeffer said.

The Threshold: “We Are Not Going to Waste Votes”

Asked whether running a new party risks throwing away right-wing votes if it fails to clear the 3.25% electoral threshold, Rabbi Pfeffer – stressing he was speaking “from a rabbinical side” – was firm.

“We are not going to waste votes,” he said. “We are part of the Israeli right. We’re responsible for the Israeli right. We’re not going to waste votes… I think it would be morally wrong to waste votes.”

Pressed on what the party would do if polls showed it below the threshold days before the election, he said the decision would be made when the time comes: “God willing, we’ll make it through.” His own projection: “Our strong hope is to get four or five seats. If we’re able to get four or five seats, that would be a wonderful achievement.”

The Campaign: Q&A With Yitzchak Edelstein, No. 6 on the Slate

For the political side of the movement, Belaaz sat down – also about a month ago – with Yitzchak Edelstein – a Los Angeles native who moved to Israel nine years ago, No. 6 on the party’s Knesset slate and the manager of its campaign – for the projections, red lines and funding questions Rabbi Pfeffer left to the politicians.

Q: Realistically, how many seats do you project?
Edelstein: “If we win 120, we’ll give up one of those seats as a gesture of goodwill,” he joked. “Realistically – between four and six.” The rabbinical projection, he said, is four or five seats: a base of roughly two seats from working Charedi Jews, with the rest coming from beyond the community – including Anglo voters and, the campaign believes, part of the secular right.

Q: If polls show you below the threshold right before the election, will you drop out to avoid burning votes?
Edelstein: “You can’t run a campaign that way,” he said. “The party position so far has been that we’re running a campaign – we’re going to go for broke. And what can happen on the night before the elections? You have a lot of people who make personal choices.”

Q: What are your coalition red lines?
Edelstein: “We care about the state. We are right-wing – right-wing is very important for us.” His conditions:
– No Arab parties: “We’re not going to sit with the Arabs.”
– No left: “We’re not going to sit with the left” – defined as anyone holding the pre-October 7 security mindset. “Anything that’s going to risk anything remotely connected to Eretz Yisrael is left.” Yair Golan and the Democrats are out; Avigdor Lieberman, he noted, “is not left.”
– A right-wing core: “A government that’s right-wing – that’s non-negotiable.”

Q: Would you join a government with Netanyahu – or figures like Eisenkot?
Edelstein: “We won’t join any coalition without a solid right-wing posture. Right now the Likud is led by Netanyahu, so in all probability it’s a government led by Netanyahu.” But the post-election math, he noted, can move fast: if Netanyahu fails to reach 61 and a broad unity government forms that excludes the traditional Charedi parties, “we may very well be the only ones in the Knesset” representing Charedi, right-leaning values – “the only viable partner” for either side.

Q: Which portfolios and policies are the top priority?
Edelstein: Housing and education – “Housing is a very, very big issue” – alongside representation for working Charedi Jews, employment opportunities and dedicated Charedi army tracks for those not learning full-time. He also singled out Anglo aliyah: “I feel so much in my gut that the Western world is winding down for Jews, and that we need to make Israel more of a viable option for Anglos and for Western immigrants,” he said, describing yeshiva-trained families who want to move but cannot find communities where a working father’s children are accepted in schools.

Q: Who is funding this campaign?
Edelstein: “The funding is 100% from within the Charedi community. We have not gotten a dime from George Soros,” he said, dismissing claims of outside progressive funding as “fake news.” Pressed on the “100%,” he conceded he could not vouch for every dollar arriving through the campaign website, but said the campaign took a firm internal position “to ensure that every single dollar came from the right place.”

The interviews in this article were recorded about a month ago. Statements and projections reflect the campaign’s positions at that time.