UTJ Campaign Expected to Be Delayed as Shas Faces Major Election Challenge, Analysts Say

As Israel approaches another election, political analysts anticipate that the chareidi parties will delay launching their campaigns until after the Yomim Tovim. United Torah Judaism is expected to be held back by its customary internal disagreements, while Shas faces what could be a particularly challenging political situation.

Commentators Yitzchak Feldman and Moshe Weisberg discussed the coming elections and the opening of the Elul zman on Wednesday evening during Kol Chai's "Central Edition," Hosted by Shneor Weber.

Feldman noted that although Israel's political system is shifting toward election mode, launching a full campaign now would be ineffective within the chareidi community. Early campaigning risks exhausting voters and diluting messages before Election Day. "To start campaigns now is a waste of time, a waste of money, and it will usually have the opposite effect," Feldman said. "The public is not capable of absorbing a message for more than a week or two and then internalizing it afterward. It dries up, and it won't last until the ballot box."

Within United Torah Judaism, Feldman explained, the party typically spends considerable time resolving internal disagreements before campaigns can begin. These disputes involve questions of campaign management, fund allocation, advertising firm selection, and the division of responsibilities between Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel. "In United Torah Judaism, there are world wars even before the arrangements between Degel and Agudas Yisroel," Feldman said.

Feldman suggested Shas faces an even more significant challenge. Tensions between the party's political leadership and the positions of Rav Yitzchak Yosef could become central to the coming campaign. "It will have a challenge that I don't know how it will overcome this time," Feldman said, referencing reported disagreements over voting for Shas.

Despite these difficulties, Feldman predicted that Shas would use the period of Selichos and Yomim Tovim to strengthen its relationship with traditional voters before campaigning begins in earnest.

Weisberg agreed that the chareidi community has not yet entered full election mode, predicting the real political battle will begin only after the Yomim Tovim.

The analysts also discussed the opening of the Elul zman, occurring amid continuing tensions and arrests related to yeshiva bochurim being drafted. Weisberg reported that most yeshivos have begun or will begin the new zman by week's end, with numerous institutions expanding despite the draft turmoil. "I am receiving reports from all the yeshivos. They are building, adding and expanding, and in Ponevezh they are opening the Elul zman with 2,500 bochurim, to the point that there isn't even room in the dormitories for all the bochurim," Weisberg said.