Likud’s ultra-Orthodox wing accuses Haredi factions of seeking to take over party

Writing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the ruling Likud party’s ultra-Orthodox wing warned that activists affiliated with the Knesset’s Haredi factions are infiltrating their movement in an effort to unduly influence the party from the inside.

The letter cited recent reporting about what it described as an organized effort by members of outside parties to join Likud, stating that they “do not seek to integrate [into it] as an ideological movement but rather to misdirect its elected officials, harm its leader, cunningly insert representatives on their behalf through internal elections, take control of its institutions, and continue to support and operate politically in other parties.”

Such efforts, the group continued, are not the legitimate actions of citizens “seeking to take part in the movement’s path, but rather an organized movement aimed at harming and weakening Likud and its leader,” which contravenes “the basic principles of democracy.”

While Likud’s Haredi wing continues to advocate for bringing in more ultra-Orthodox members, “the goal of these elements is completely the opposite, creating a distorted internal pressure mechanism that will subordinate its representatives to external political actors,” the group stated.

It called on Netanyahu to establish “filtering mechanisms” to “ensure that Likud activists are actual supporters of the movement” and are not acting on behalf of other parties.

Asked for comment, a spokesman for Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni said that his movement is not connected to any such campaign, noting that allegations have so far been leveled against the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction. Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael comprise the larger United Torah Judaism party.

Senior officials and spokespeople for Agudat Yisrael did not immediately reply to inquiries by The Times of Israel. This includes Motti Babchik, a senior political operative who the pro-government Channel 14 reported this week was pushing members of his Gur Hasidic movement to join Likud.

A spokesman for Likud also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last August, Channel 12 reported that thousands of ultra-Orthodox voters have joined the Likud party as part of a bid to directly influence the workings of Israel’s ruling faction.

The share of Haredi members in Likud, Israel’s largest party and one of only a handful to hold primaries for its electoral slate, has tripled while the party’s liberal wing has shrunk, the network reported at the time.

The Haredi growth came as Likud completed a drive for new and lapsed members to join the party, which currently leads the coalition in the Knesset and has governed Israel for much of the past half-century. It also came amid a major political fight over exempting ultra-Orthodox men from the military draft.

Channel 12 noted that Haredi public relations strategist and Likud party operative Yossi Rosenbaum recently registered 2,163 new Likud members, making him one of the drive’s most prolific recruiters. That figure brought the total number of Likud voters he has registered to approximately 7,300.

Out of Likud’s 140,000 members, fewer than 80,000 voted in the most recent primary, the network said.

The growth of Haredi membership in Likud could signal a new desire to influence a mainstream party from within. Historically, the ultra-Orthodox community has engaged in electoral politics through the United Torah Judaism party, which caters to Ashkenazi Haredim, and the Shas party, which caters to Sephardim.

United Torah Judaism left the coalition last year; however, Shas left the government while remaining in the coalition amid an impasse over the military draft issue, after the long-standing broad exemption of Haredi young men was struck down by the High Court of Justice in June 2024.

Likud is currently promoting a bill dealing with the issue, which would ostensibly increase enlistment while exempting yeshiva students from conscription. However, opposition within Likud threatens to hamper its passage.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. During the course of the war in Gaza, the IDF repeatedly told lawmakers that it lacked 12,000 troops due to the strain of the conflict and other military challenges. Despite that conflict being halted, the military maintains that it is still short of regular service troops.

Efforts to conscript Haredim have led to widespread protests and even violence against IDF personnel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.