Agudat Israel has fired the opening shot in its election campaign, launching a nationwide political drive Monday with its first election conference in Bnei Brak.
Dozens of leaders and representatives of Hasidic communities gathered for the event as the party seeks to rally its base and present a united front amid growing political tensions and the ongoing crisis over haredi enlistment.
The conference was part of a broader grassroots campaign by the movement’s leadership ahead of the upcoming elections. It was organized by local Agudat Yisrael representatives, including Deputy Mayors Yosef Yitzhak Yakubovich and Aharon Elboim, City Council member Shlomo Feder, and community representative Avraham Levin.
MK Meir Porush, designated MK Elyakim Stark, and former MK Moshe Shimon Roth also attended.
The battle over the status of yeshiva students and what Agudat Israel described as the “systematic persecution" of Torah scholars was at the heart of the gathering.
Porush addressed growing frustration within the haredi public over whether there is still a reason to vote under the current circumstances.
“I am aware of the feelings and the questions: ‘What is there to vote for in a situation like this?’" Porush said.
He recalled that the Torah leaders who signed Agudat Israel’s first election proclamations did so after the Holocaust, having “lost almost everything," and despite having witnessed the actions of the Zionist movement in Europe.
“Nevertheless, they did not despair. They started everything anew and called on people to vote so that there would be representatives in the Knesset who would fight for Torah and Shabbat," he said.
Stark, the movement’s designated MK, took a more self-critical approach, issuing an unusually blunt apology over the party’s handling of the enlistment crisis.
“I want to apologize for the fact that we did not succeed in our most basic mission - protecting yeshiva students and kollel students," he said.
“I take it upon myself that we will work with unity and cooperation, and only in this way will we merit, with God’s help, to find a solution for the yeshiva world. The atmosphere of unity prevailing here in the sukkah should guide our path going forward."
Former MK Moshe Shimon Roth warned that the haredi public is facing a decisive political battle.
“We are coming after three difficult years of persecution of the Torah world, and before us lies a critical campaign over the future survival of the entire haredi public," Roth said.
“Thanks to the many who will vote for the honor of Heaven, our representatives will have divine assistance to defeat all those who seek our harm."
Monday’s gathering marks the beginning of a series of meetings and conferences Agudat Israel plans to hold in communities across the country in the coming weeks, as the movement seeks to mobilize its electoral base and confront growing apathy and internal criticism over the enlistment crisis.