A major disagreement has emerged within Agudas Yisroel just days before Israel’s elections, with the Gerer Rebbe reportedly refusing to add his signature to the traditional proclamation issued by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah urging the chareidi public to vote for United Torah Judaism.

According to a report Thursday evening by journalist Ari Kalman of i24NEWS, efforts to secure the Gerer Rebbe’s signature have so far been unsuccessful, despite attempts by senior party figures to resolve the matter ahead of the publication of the election appeal.

The election kol korei is traditionally published on the Friday preceding Election Day and bears the signatures of the admorim who serve on the chassidic Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel. It calls upon the chareidi community to support the party at the ballot box.

In preparation for the upcoming election, the secretary of the Moetzes has been working in recent days to collect the signatures of its members. However, the Gerer Rebbe has thus far declined to sign the document, creating a significant complication for those seeking to publish the appeal in its customary format.

In an attempt to overcome the disagreement, representatives of Ger have proposed issuing the proclamation without the individual names and signatures of the admorim. Under that arrangement, the appeal would instead appear under the collective designation “Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.”

Such a compromise would allow the traditional election message to be published without requiring each member of the Moetzes to personally sign the document.

Discussions over the proposal are continuing, with party officials working against a tight deadline. The matter must be settled before the newspapers go to print at midnight if the proclamation is to appear in Friday’s editions.

The Gerer Rebbe’s position has remained unchanged despite a personal visit Wednesday evening by MK Yaakov Asher, chairman of United Torah Judaism, who traveled to the Rebbe’s residence in an effort to secure his participation in the party’s election campaign.

Asher’s visit was intended to bring the Rebbe on board with the party’s efforts ahead of Election Day, but according to the report, the meeting did not produce the desired result.

The disagreement comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Agudas Yisroel, as its leadership seeks to present a unified position to voters ahead of the election.