The “Israelization” of the Ultra-Orthodox — Jewish Journal

“One of the most remarkable images from the Oct. 30 municipal elections comes from Haifa. It depicts dozens of ultra-Orthodox supporters of the Degel HaTorah party dancing and singing to celebrate the election of a secular woman, Einat Kalisch-Rotem, as mayor of Israel’s third-largest city.

In the absence of ultra-Orthodox candidates for mayor of Haifa, the ultra-Orthodox had to make a choice, and decide whether to support a candidate outside their camp. But this proved to be complicated, given the split in Yahadut HaTorah (the ultra-Orthodox alliance) between the Lithuanian camp represented by Degel HaTorah and the Hasidic camp represented by Agudat Yisrael. In the end, Degel HaTorah’s electorate came out in support of Kalisch-Rotem, and actively backed her at that. This included the involvement of local rabbis and feverish activity by ultra-Orthodox volunteers in her campaign headquarters. These supporters completely ignored the fact that Kalisch-Rotem is a woman (it is well-known that women have little place in ultra-Orthodox politics). As it turns out, the ultra-Orthodox can support a secular woman for a political position as long as she advances their interests. In this particular instance, a coalition agreement was signed between Degel HaTorah and Kalisch-Rotem in which she promised to maintain the status quo on matters pertaining to the Sabbath and other religious issues.

At the headquarters of mayoral candidate Moshe Leon in Jerusalem, it seemed as if the entire ultra-Orthodox community was in his pocket after the first round of elections. In that round, Leon was supported by Shas (the Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox party) and Degel HaTorah. They both backed Leon, even though the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael party ran its own candidate, Yossi Deutsch, for mayor. This decision by Shas and Degel HaTorah to support a candidate who is not ultra-Orthodox rather than someone from their own sector came under sharp criticism from Agudat Yisrael. As a result, Agudat Yisrael is now in no hurry to support Leon, even though Ofer Berkovitch, the second candidate in the runoff election scheduled for Nov. 13, largely represents Jerusalem’s secular residents. Agudat Yisrael’s representatives have been introducing all sorts of difficulties in their negotiations with Leon’s staff. They have raised the bar for their demands so high that it is now doubtful that their demands will be met. Some of the Hasidic courts, including the large Slonim Hasidic group and Chabad, seem likely to recommend that their followers stay at home and not vote at all. Other groups are likely to avoid making any recommendation whatsoever, effectively giving their followers freedom to vote for their candidate of choice.”