Every election cycle brings niche parties claiming to speak for the “working Haredi” sector. The latest entry into this arena is HaTzibbur HaCharedi, led by Moti Leitner.

On the surface, Leitner presents a reasonable pitch: he claims he isn’t attacking anyone, but simply wants to secure funding for modern Haredi schools and give a political voice to working Haredim. It sounds tempting to those with genuine grievances, but beneath the rhetoric lies a deeply flawed strategy: disrespect for Torah leadership disguised as advocacy, and a willingness to burn precious Haredi votes at an existential moment for our community.

Leitner claims he just wants “practical representation” for a neglected demographic, but in Israeli politics, representation requires crossing the electoral threshold. Polling far below that bar, HaTzibbur HaCharedi has no real chance of entering the Knesset. You cannot build classrooms, secure budgets, or protect institutions from outside the Knesset walls. Leading well-meaning voters down a mathematical dead end isn’t advocacy—it is deception.

If winning seats is impossible, why run? Because this campaign has turned into a pure protest vote. The true strategy is to gather a collection of votes simply to signal that a segment of the public is “sick and tired” of mainstream leadership. Leitner insists he is only fighting political askanim, not the Gedolim, but this distinction is pure doublespeak. The Gedolei Yisrael explicitly direct the public to vote for the established Haredi parties to safeguard the Torah world. Telling people to ignore the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah and Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah is a direct declaration that our Torah giants are naive or out of touch. It takes immense pride to suggest that an entire generation of Torah leaders doesn’t understand their own public.

Worse than the arrogance of “teaching the Gedolim a lesson” is its dangerous real-world cost. Israel’s coalition math is razor-thin, and throwing away Haredi votes into the electoral trash bin directly shrinks the total strength of the religious and right-wing bloc. Naftali Bennett’s pitch to the public relies on pointing directly at the growth of the Haredi public and promising voters that if they give him the power, he will put an explicit stop to it. To express frustration over local issues or school budgets, Leitner’s voters risk enabling a secularist government—a coalition of anti-religious parties eager to pass laws that make Haredi life increasingly uncomfortable, dismantle the status quo on Sabbao observance, and rely on Arab parties whose security positions jeopardize our safety. Moti Leitner is asking voters to gamble with our collective future just to “send a message,” throwing away our voting power to make a point is a luxury the Torah world simply cannot afford.

Ultimately, if you no longer feel a personal adherence to the Haredi framework or Rabbinic Judaism, at least be practical: vote for an established party that will actually hold seats in the Knesset to represent your interests, rather than throwing your vote away on a doomed protest run.

Shmuel Bookman

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