BEIT SHEMESH, ISRAEL | HaTzibur HaCharedi, or the Charedi Public Party, formally launched its campaign for Israel’s 26th Knesset on Sunday, presenting itself as an alternative to the longstanding leadership of Shas and United Torah Judaism and promising a new approach to military service, education, employment and the protection of Torah study.
The campaign was launched at an event in Beit Shemesh attended by hundreds of activists, rabbis and public figures.
Party chairman Moti Leitner, who also serves as deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh, used the event to deliver a sweeping criticism of the established Charedi political leadership, accusing it of becoming detached from both the needs of Charedi society and the wider responsibilities facing Israel during wartime.
“Responsibility has been a supreme value for Charedi Jews throughout the generations. Sadly, the longstanding political leadership has forgotten what responsibility means,” Leitner said.
The party will run under the slogan, “This Time, We Take Responsibility.”
Its electoral list is expected to include representatives from Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Chasidic communities, an effort to position the movement as a broad Charedi political alternative rather than a faction representing a single religious tradition.
The party says its platform will seek to protect the Torah world while confronting issues that have become increasingly difficult for Charedi political leaders to avoid, particularly military service, economic participation and secular studies in Charedi schools.
HaTzibur HaCharedi was registered as a political party in July and initially sought greater representation within the existing Shas and United Torah Judaism lists. After those efforts failed to produce an agreement, the movement moved toward an independent run for the Knesset.
Israel’s election for the 26th Knesset is scheduled for October 27, according to the party’s official campaign material.
“Those Who Are Not Studying Will Serve”
Perhaps the most consequential policy difference between the new party and the traditional Charedi political establishment is its position on military service.
Leitner said the party would defend full-time Torah scholars while supporting service for Charedi men who are not engaged in full-time religious study.
“If the society of Torah scholars is to continue to exist and flourish in the Land of Israel, we must face reality and address the crises of military service, poverty and discrimination,” Leitner said.
“Those who genuinely study Torah will receive full and absolute protection. Those who are not studying will serve. We will not establish only a Charedi brigade; we will establish an entire Charedi division.”
“This is the only way to protect the Torah world.”
The proposal represents a significant departure from the political stance traditionally associated with Shas and United Torah Judaism, which have fought efforts to impose broad compulsory military service on Charedi yeshiva students.
Leitner has previously argued that every young Charedi man who is not dedicating his life to full-time Torah study should perform military or national security service under conditions that allow him to maintain a Charedi lifestyle and religious observance.
The issue has become increasingly contentious as Israel continues to face significant military manpower demands following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the wars that followed.
October 7 Changed the Debate
Leitner placed the party’s argument directly within the experience of the war.
“For the past three years, the State of Israel has been fighting a war on multiple fronts against enemies seeking our destruction,” he said.
“It began with a horrific massacre that reminded every one of us what responsibility truly means.”
He pointed to Charedim who enlisted, volunteered and assisted Israeli communities during the war as evidence that the broader Charedi population cannot be defined solely by the positions taken by its veteran political leadership.
“Thousands of Charedim stepped forward. They enlisted, volunteered and helped in every way they could,” Leitner said.
“Yet the terrible tragedies experienced by the people of Israel appear to have passed over the heads of a detached political leadership.”
The argument goes to the heart of the new party’s political strategy.
Rather than presenting military service and Torah study as mutually exclusive ideological camps, HaTzibur HaCharedi argues that selective military participation is necessary to preserve public support for the Torah world itself.
Leitner Accuses Established Parties of Radicalization
Leitner reserved some of his strongest language for United Torah Judaism and Shas.
He accused both parties of allowing more extreme elements, particularly the Jerusalem Faction, to exercise disproportionate influence over Charedi politics.
“Our streets are being surrendered to extremists who compete to see who can employ greater violence, and the leadership remains preoccupied with preserving its own power instead of finding solutions,” Leitner said.
“We are in the midst of a head-on collision between Charedi society and the rest of the people of Israel. The consequences will be disastrous for us, for the Charedi public and for the State of Israel as a whole.”
He argued that the confrontation was not inevitable.
“This failure and this dangerous confrontation are not decreed from Heaven. They are the result of a dangerous process of radicalization undergone by the longstanding political leadership.”
Leitner then directly accused Shas and United Torah Judaism representatives of allowing themselves to be led by the Jerusalem Faction, a hardline Charedi movement known for uncompromising opposition to military enlistment.
“A vote for United Torah Judaism or Shas is a vote for the extremists and bullies of the Jerusalem Faction,” Leitner said.
Neither Shas nor United Torah Judaism was quoted in the launch statement responding to those accusations.
Mathematics, English and Employment
Military service is only one component of the party’s program.
HaTzibur HaCharedi also intends to advocate for increased mathematics and English instruction in Charedi schools and expanded employment opportunities for Charedi men and women.
The party argues that economic independence and professional training can be strengthened without abandoning Charedi religious identity.
Its official material calls for vocational training, tailored educational pathways, incentives for private employers and expanded opportunities within the civil service.
Leitner’s own background reflects that model.
The 33-year-old father of four was raised in Jerusalem’s Rachmastrivka Chasidic community and studied in Charedi educational institutions before entering the technology sector, where he worked in software and DevOps.
He later became involved in establishing Chasidic state-Charedi educational institutions in Beit Shemesh that combine Chasidic religious life with broader foundational studies.
In the 2024 municipal election, Leitner led the Derech faction in Beit Shemesh, which won two seats on city council. He subsequently became deputy mayor.
A Challenge to Decades of Charedi Political Dominance
Shas and United Torah Judaism have dominated Charedi representation in Israeli national politics for decades.
HaTzibur HaCharedi is betting that a constituency now exists among working Charedim, younger families, professionals and voters dissatisfied with the traditional leadership’s handling of military service, education and economic issues.
Leitner has said that parts of Charedi society have effectively lacked meaningful political representation despite consistently supporting Charedi parties.
Whether that dissatisfaction is large enough to translate into Knesset seats remains uncertain.
Israel’s electoral threshold means smaller parties face significant risks if they fail to win enough votes to enter parliament. A new Charedi list could also affect the broader right-religious bloc by drawing votes away from Shas or United Torah Judaism.
For that reason, even a relatively modest level of support could make HaTzibur HaCharedi consequential in the October election.
The party says it will release its complete platform and detailed policy proposals in the coming weeks.
For now, however, Leitner has made the central political choice unusually clear.
His party intends to defend full-time Torah study.
It also intends to argue that protecting the Torah world requires Charedi society to accept greater responsibility for Israel’s defense, education system and economy.
That proposition places HaTzibur HaCharedi directly into one of the most consequential debates facing Israeli society ahead of the 2026 election.
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