The Ger hasidic movement, a dominant force within the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, is threatening to boycott the upcoming elections.
Hamodia, the newspaper representing the Ger hasidic community, has notably refrained from publishing any call by the Ger Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, to vote for the party. No official statement regarding the elections has been issued, an extremely unusual situation at such an advanced stage of the campaign, when election activities are normally in full swing.
Behind the silence lies a severe political crisis that erupted just hours before the deadline for submitting Knesset candidate lists: Meir Porush, a representative of the Shlomei Emunim faction, and Eliakim Stark, a representative of the Belz hasidic community, unexpectedly broke away from Agudat Yisrael and established a separate party called Torat Homat Yisrael, whose representatives occupy fourth and sixth place on the joint UTJ list.
The move was intended to secure funding proportional to their electoral strength within UTJ.
The Ger hasidic movement has struggled to accept the move and is reportedly determined to do everything possible to prevent Stark, who holds sixth place on the UTJ list, from entering the Knesset.
"As of now, we have been instructed not to engage in any election-related activity, and so far, there has been no public call from the Gerrer Rebbe. So it is not at all clear whether we will vote in the upcoming elections," a Gerrer hasid told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News.
"The goal," the hasid admitted, "is to do everything possible to keep Stark out."
If the Ger community does not vote, UTJ could potentially lose two Knesset seats.
In Belz, however, officials are dismissing the threat.
"The entire Ger hasidic movement accounts for 25,000 to 30,000 votes. Meanwhile, the natural growth in UTJ's voter base amounts to 55,000 votes. Even if they stage a work-to-rule protest, they won't manage to affect even the seventh seat," sources in the movement told Arutz Sheva.
Nevertheless, the prevailing assessment is that a compromise will ultimately be reached and Gerrer hasidim will turn out to vote for the United Torah Judaism list.