Charedi Public vows to stay in election race to the end, as PM reportedly pushing party to drop out

Moti Leitner, chair of the ultra-Orthodox Charedi Public party, tells Channel 12 that he will not bow out of the election after it was reported yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushing him to suspend his campaign.

The Charedi Public has set itself apart from mainstream ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas with its relatively moderate stances on IDF enlistment and by including women on its Knesset slate.

Despite opinion polls consistently showing that Charedi Public falls below the 3.25% electoral threshold, Leitner is adamant that it will run until the end, asking, “How can we come to hundreds and thousands of Israelis and tell them ‘we’re going to close off your opportunity to bring us your support?'”

He says that despite polling results, he believes Charedi Public could become the “surprise” of election day on October 27, citing the phenomenon of the “shy voters” who are reluctant or afraid to admit they are voting for his party due to societal pressure and potential retaliation, potentially skewing the polls.

Answering those who say that voting for Charedi Public is a wasted vote, Leitner says that “a wasted vote is a vote for United Torah Judaism and Shas. A vote for us is a vote for the future.”