Eli Yishai and the party he founded may have initially seemed like a curiosity or a kind of personal whim, but with the closing of the lists and the updating of the polls, "Together" is going' And will grow to impressive proportions.
According to all the polls, the party is passing The blocking percentage, and according to some, it does so by a considerable margin, as it gains volume like a snowball rolling rapidly down the slopes of Mount Hermon.
What is the special message that this movement brings? It seems that the main message is the disintegration of political mobilization, especially among the observant.
Parties today are measured by battalions and power bases. Each party has its hard core that belongs to the mainstream identified with the founding force, such as the Hasidim and yeshivahs that make up "United Torah Judaism," the Sephardic yeshiva students who automatically identify with Shas, Lieberman's Russians, and Lapid's middle-class secularists. The hard core is less critical of the party, and will go with it almost wherever it goes.
Eli Yishai does not have such a center of power that includes a hard core of two or three seats, which he received in the first polls before there was talk of Otzma Yehudit joining. Where, then, does he get those tens of thousands of votes that make up the 'hard core' of his party?
But this is precisely the secret and power of Eli Yishai. The joining of individuals and lone wolves, and small and medium-sized groups of supporters and sympathizers, who want change, something new. Without the initial automatic division.
At the conferences he organizes, one sees adults and young people from all walks of life, and not as a casual statement. An examination of the hundreds of participants shows that according to the old rules, there is no common denominator among them. Among them are Sephardic avrechim, Lithuanian Bnei Torah scholars, and Hasidic young men, whom their parent parties take for granted, but it is impossible to ignore other parts of the audience, including hilltop boys, working Haredim, Braslavs, and Chabadniks, who have no natural home.
Everyone has voted so far in retrospect, for the party that suits them 'more or less', despite the criticism they have of the parent parties, andEven though they felt like they were taken for granted.
This is also the challenge facing this movement. 'Together' will have to take care of the public interest and ensure that all these individuals are satisfied. It will not be possible to silence the public through a slight concern for a few institutions [as often happens in other places]. There is an obligation to address the real needs of each and every one of these individuals and each group of this audience.
There is no natural sympathy, but a desire for change and for things to look different. This is a great commitment on the one hand, but on the other hand, this is why the potential of this movement is so great. Because at the end of the day, each individual goes to the polls on their own.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
