At a festive United Torah Judaism party operative conference on Tuesday night in Bnei Brak, the United Torah Judaism faction heads gathered to celebrate the results of the exit polls and interim data, sending strong messages to the political and legal systems.
UTJ Chairman MK Yaakov Asher declared victory, stating: "The Torah won, Degel Hatorah won, and United Torah Judaism won. Everyone eulogized us. They tried to do a lot to us, but they couldn't."
Asher noted that, due to a decision by Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg prohibiting representatives from transmitting real-time voting data from polling stations, it was difficult to estimate the exact number of votes in advance. Nevertheless, he claimed that all the data available to the party indicated that it had gained tens of thousands of votes, and stressed: "We will not discuss any political negotiations until the final official election results are published."
Asher also addressed internal disputes within the haredi community and criticism from outside: "What haven't they done to us? They threatened us with white ballots, black ballots, yellow ballots. The leading Torah sages prevailed, and the public obeyed them despite attempts to undermine that bond. You wanted to tear us apart, but we will not break. We will fight for the rights of the haredi public as citizens with equal rights."
MK Moshe Gafni also admitted that he had approached election night with deep anxiety: "It was difficult to deal with everything that has happened here recently. I was very concerned about the false incitement against Torah scholars and the actions of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, and the media. I was afraid of what the results would be, but tonight my mind is at ease."
Other representatives of the party also spoke at the event. MK Meir Porush claimed that data from the field indicated that the party had surpassed the 300,000-vote mark, emphasizing that the result carried with it a responsibility to rectify the injustices inflicted on Torah scholars in recent years.
Incoming MK Elyakim Stark thanked campaign activists and said that their intensive work at polling stations had secured the achievement despite the challenges faced during the election campaign.