Eli Yishai
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Former Shas leader's new party to hold elections
For the first time, the representatives of an ultra-Orthodox party—Eli Yishai's Yachad—will be chosen by the voters rather than by rabbis.
Former Shas leader Eli Yishai's new party, Yachad, will start registering new members after Sukkot, ahead of a planned primary election. This would be the first time an ultra-Orthodox party's representatives are chosen by the voters rather than rabbis.
The objective is to create a feeling of commitment and belonging among the party's potential voters and put an end to the norm in ultra-Orthodox society according to which the party's list for parliament is determined by spiritual leaders.
The move, initiated by party leader Yishai, also received the blessing of the party's rabbi, Meir Mazuz, who is the head of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva.
Eli Yishai (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Party leaders are initially planning on registering 10,000 members and later registering thousands more. Member fees for the party will be symbolic to allow yeshiva students to also register.
The party's council of sages will recommend the list of candidates for the primaries, and those will be approved by Rabbi Mazuz, after which members will be able to vote for their representatives on the party list.
Yishai left the Shas party before the previous elections after being ousted from its leadership in favor of Aryeh Deri, who returned to politics after serving a two-year sentence in prison for corruption. He formed the Yachad party, but it did not cross the threshold, leading party officials to claim there were irregularities and electoral fraud. The party and Yishai himself were left with debts of several million shekels, which he has been gradually returning, mostly with the help of donations.
