In first for Israel, ultra-Orthodox party appoints a woman to run on its Knesset slate

For the first time in Israel’s history, an ultra-Orthodox political party has selected a woman to run on its Knesset slate for the upcoming election.

The newly formed Haredi Public party, chaired by Moti Leitner, announces that Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, an ultra-Orthodox political psychology researcher, has joined the party, a day before the deadline for parties to submit their final candidate lists to the Central Election Committee.

In a statement, The Haredi Public says Yaffe has worked with Harvard University on a research project focused on the ultra-Orthodox community and is a senior faculty member and researcher at Tel Aviv University.

In 2020, she was appointed special advisor on Haredi affairs to the National Security Council, with a focus on poverty within the ultra-Orthodox community, the statement says. It adds that in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, she coordinated an emergency response center that assigned volunteers to support families from the Gaza border community.

Leitner welcomes Yaffe to the party, saying that “over 30 years of an educational and academic career, Yaffe has worked to advance our Haredi brothers and sisters.”