Haredi ‘Jerusalem branch’ may cost right wing bloc one Knesset seat

17 March 2015, 9:40 am

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Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, leader of the Lithuanian branch in the ultra-Orthodox community, decides to boycott the election completely.

Early this week it became known that Auerbach, who leads a small but vocal minority of traditional UTJ voters, will not vote for UTJ. Sources in the party feared that Auerbach will tell his followers, numbering c. 30,000, to vote for Eli Yishai’s Yachad.

On Monday a statement from the circle of the rabbi said he does not instruct his voters to vote for any of the parties. This was understood as allowing the community to make up their own minds. If the rabbi’s followers decide to do likewise and not vote, UTJ and the entire right wing bloc may lose a Knesset seat.