Yesterday it was announced that a, another, new Haredi party will be running in the upcoming elections. This one is a womens Haredi party.

That makes:
 * UTJ
 * Shas
 * Perach
 * Netzach-Eitz
 * Yachad - Haam Itanu (it sort of counts as Haredi)
 * Bzchutan, this new womens party

6 Haredi parties to be running in the upcoming elections, giving the potential Haredi voter a plethora of choices. Competition is always good. It makes everyone perform better.

There seems to be this impression that this new party, Bzchutan, is the outgrowth of the movement a few weeks ago of Haredi women who announced that unless the Haredi parties find a way to integrate women into their party lists, they will not vote for the Haredi parties (or any other party).

To me it seems that it is not. Ruth Colian, a woman with a long-standing fight with Shas about female representation, is behind this new party. As far as I can tell, none of the women involved in the original protest are involved or behind this new party. It is the natural next step, but it seems to be other people behind it, and not the same. It does not really make a difference, but it seems this new party is riding the wave created by the original women.

The chances of this new party making it into the Knesset is infinitesimal, but that is ok. Just like Nachshon ben Aminadav had to be the first to jump into the sea, someone needs to be the first to create such a party. They might not make it, but maybe next time, or the time after that, they will.

A lot can happen. If they even make it to election day still standing, they will be fortunate, forget about even winning any seats. We know the classic parties are intolerant of break-offs and others that might threaten them by taking a few votes away or minimizing their power, even if just a bit. These women will be pressured and threatened, some will drop out, others will stand strong. Perhaps some of the parties mentioned above will merge or find a way to run together, or the larger of them may offer them a deal of some sort. Or they might just succumb to what will be intense pressure.

Either way, their very existence right now marks a major shift, and the future of Haredi representation in Knesset will surely be different than it appears today.

a couple more have surfaced...

Kulanu Kahlon:
Kahlon's version of the red phone:


Shas:
everybody is becoming Shas, so you should too:

the planned city of Kasif, which is meant to be designated for the Haredi community and will be as large as having a population of 100,000 people living there eventually, was recently approved.

Kasif has been going through various stages of approval, but now the Ministry of Housing committee decided to reject the claims of the environmentalists protesting the plans and approve them, and to recommend to the planing and construction committee to approve the plans.
source: Ynet

Despite a city being planned for Haredi construction, some people in the Haredi community are still upset by it.

MK Yaakov Asher (UTJ), in an interview to Globes, explains why he opposes the plan and is unimpressed with the approval.

Basically he is upset that the government is throwing the Haredim to an area nobody wants. he also says the expenses will be too high to build such a city, and it is a better idea to expand an existing city with new neighborhoods for the Haredi community. Arnona from residential property isn't enough to sustain a city, and if no industrial zones are planned, as they are not, it will just be a bedroom community or a satellite town, and will constantly require government subsidies to stay afloat, and will never be self-sustainable.

my thoughts:
1. Asher is basically acknowledging that the Haredi community cannot sustain itself. They need to connect to the general society in general cities, even with separate neighborhoods, in order to survive/thrive. They cannot do it on their own.
2. Asher wants lots of Haredi housing for cheap, but he does not want it in areas where the property is cheap. he wants it in Jerusalem or other more central areas. Well, those areas have expensive land, which means the housing costs are more expensive. Building in cheaper areas will help keep the housing prices down for the community that needs cheap housing.
3. Ariel Attias, when he was Minister of Housing, was the one who started the process for Kasif. Attias was famous for saying that he believes that Haredi community has to live separate from the general community and mixing the two does not work - it creates tension and conflict. Asher does not like that idea and prefers neighborhoods be built for Haredim in general cities. Asher really does want separation between Haredim and non-haredim. he will not advocate for mixed neighborhoods, and he will not defend the rights, or promote it as an ideal, of non-haredim to live in Haredi neighborhoods. Asher wants separation, just not so much that would require the Haredi community to be self-sufficient.
4. the mayor of Arad, also interviewed in the article, says she is happy with the plans of the nearby town for Haredim. It seems a bit selfish, as she says it means more business in Arad, as the residents of Kasif will require the use of much of Arad's services. She does not want them living in Arad, as she is concerned of what she calls "the Bet Shemesh effect" where so many Haredim will move in they will eventually take over the town and change its style. Basically, she wants the Haredim close enough to give Arad their business, but far enough that they will not change Arad in any way.

Shas put out a good election video in which they highlight the 2 million transparent people in Israel - the 2 million poor we just ignore and do not even see. Shas wants to appear to be concerned about social welfare and is targeting the lower class, those living in the periphery towns of Israel.


and, along with that election video broadcast, Aryeh Deri posted to his Facebook account a comment about the government not having done anything for these "transparent" people but have now decided to implement, in part, Shas's plans and has raised minimum wage. he also says that Shas is making their joining a government conditional on raising the minimum wage to 30nis per hour and cancelling the VAT on basic necessity items.

It seems like Shas is taking a lot of credit but does not have the receipts to back it up. Or, they are all talk about helping the poor, but short on action.

According to this article in Kikar, they looked into the voting patterns of Aryeh Deri and Eli Yishai, and both were found to not really give a hoot about the poor. Their voting record on social issues is very weak. For exaple, neither Deri nor Yishai showed up or bothered voting when the Knesset voted on the proposed law to cancel VAT on basic food necessities, something Deri is championing as his idea. That is in addition to a list of other social law proposals that one or the other or neither bothered showing up to or voting for...

So, are they just undeservedly claiming the title of being concerned for the transparent, or do they really deserve the title (maybe on many other votes they really do vote strongly on those issues)?

It does not seem like this photo will cause a diplomatic crisis, but it did make some people uncomfortable. After Miss Israel posted this picture online, of her with Miss Lebanon (and others), Miss Lebanon came under fire in her country for hanging out with Miss Israel. She defended herself claiming Miss Israel had jumped in and snapped the selfie but they had not been talking or hanging out together.

best reaction I saw was one that pointed out that while in Lebanon everyone was upset and this was such a big deal that Miss Lebanon might have taken a picture with miss Israel, in Israel nobody cared at all.

Watch how the story of the Exodus inspired a people oppressed by slavery to strive for freedom and equality, under the leadership of Martin Luther King.

Yair Shamir officially resigned from Yisrael Beyteynu, after a week of rumors about what he would do..

I'd like to see Netanyahu use one of the reserved spots on the Likud list for Yair Shamir, if Shamir would be willing to join the Likud.

There is no need to be strict about using specifically the Badatz Eida Hachareidis only. It was not sent down to us by Heaven, but they are stringent about a few things..

  -- Chief Rabbi Rav Yiitzchak Yosef, while talking about how imported candies with good hechshers like OU and the Rav of Holland can be relied upon and eaten