Even before the counting of double-envelope ballots in the elections for Israel's 26th Knesset was completed, attorney Avraham Justman, Agudat Yisrael's representative on the Central Elections Committee, estimated that the decision by smaller parties to run despite failing to cross the electoral threshold had come at a significant political cost to the right-wing and religious blocs.
In an interview with Radio Kol Chai, Justman discussed the number of votes received by smaller parties and lists that failed to cross the electoral threshold, noting that Ofer Winter and Yoaz Hendel had together drawn nearly 200,000 votes, or even slightly more.
According to Justman, such a substantial number of votes that will not translate into Knesset seats is expected to have a dramatic impact on the final balance of power in parliament.
Regarding the haredi sector, Justman estimated that United Torah Judaism would reach a record of approximately 320,000 votes, an impressive increase of some 40,000 compared to the elections for the 25th Knesset, when the party received around 280,000 votes.
However, he explained that the high nationwide voter turnout had increased the number of votes required to secure a Knesset seat, preventing the party from winning an eighth seat and keeping MK Yaakov Tessler out of the Knesset.
By contrast, Shas is expected to experience a significant decline compared to the previous elections, when it received nearly 400,000 votes. The party is projected to finish the current count with approximately 320,000 votes, equivalent to around seven seats.
Turning to the smaller and newly established parties, Justman noted that Ofer Winter's Amcha Yisrael party had achieved a substantial electoral showing, receiving approximately 71,000 votes at the time of the interview. He estimated that the party would finish with around 90,000 votes, although that would still be insufficient to cross the electoral threshold.
Meanwhile, alternative haredi lists performed considerably worse. Moti Leitner's Haredi Public party received only about 8,000 votes, including just 860 in his stronghold of Beit Shemesh, while the Tzeva Shahor party approached 10,000 votes.
Justman emphasized that the figures were preliminary and based on estimates from the advanced stages of the vote count. He stressed that the final results would only become clear once the Central Elections Committee completed processing the double-envelope ballots.