The Haredi Public is an "integrationist" Haredi party. It rejects the status quo defended by Shas and United Torah Judaism on service exemptions and on not teaching the core curriculum, but it keeps its religious identity.
The Haredi Public combines service adapted to Haredim, education reform and free-market economics. It also keeps explicit protection for yeshiva students who truly study full time.
What should Israel do about military service for yeshiva students?
Its position: Gradually increase the number of recruits, through agreements with Haredi communities
The Haredi public wants a full legal exemption for those who study Torah full-time, and for other Haredi men to perform military or national service. The Haredi public rejects sanctions and wants to expand Haredi tracks (hesder yeshivas, a “Haredi division”) with positive incentives, placing it between exemption and a gradual increase by agreement.
Sources : Fourchette calculée à partir de 4 instituts entre le 4 et le 19 octobre 2026. Maariv/Lazar Research le place à 0 sièges. N12/Midgam, N13 et Kan 11/Kantar le placent sous le seuil électoral. Le détail complet par institut est disponible dans l'encart sondages de la fiche.
The Haredi Public is an "integrationist" Haredi party. It rejects the status quo defended by Shas and United Torah Judaism on service exemptions and on not teaching the core curriculum, but it keeps its religious identity.
The Haredi Public combines service adapted to Haredim, education reform and free-market economics. It also keeps explicit protection for yeshiva students who truly study full time.
Before you vote
What you need to know about this party’s positions before voting
Voting for The Haredi Public means voting for a newly created party (founded in July 2026, with its campaign launched on August 23), with no electoral or governmental record, which seeks to break through by challenging Shas and United Torah Judaism on their own electoral turf rather than broadening its appeal beyond the Haredi world.
On military and civic conscription
The party takes an intermediate position: it extends the obligation to serve to Haredim who do not study full-time, while maintaining explicit protection “without arrests or sanctions” for genuinely full-time yeshiva students. Leitner even states an ambition for a future “Haredi division” in the IDF.
This is a compromise that breaks with the blanket communal exemption without abolishing it: the dividing line between “full-time students” and everyone else remains the central point of friction with the established Haredi parties.
There is also a gap between the rhetoric and the quantified policy: Leitner compares those who neither serve nor study full-time to tax evaders, but the platform proposes no concrete financial sanctions to compel them to do so.
On the economy
The party embraces a tension rather than resolving it: an avowedly economically liberal discourse (competition, skills, moving away from dependence on benefits) coexists with affirmative action measures in public-sector employment and incentives for private employers.
Voting for this party means accepting this mix rather than a clear choice between the free market and state aid.
On education
The party pushes for the integration of the core curriculum (mathematics, English) into Haredi schools, championed by Leitner himself, who grew up and studied in the Haredi education system.
This is a source of personal credibility within the community, but also a risky bet: convincing a community largely loyal to Shas and UTJ that a reform originating within the Haredi world is different from those already rejected in the past.
Key positions
Military Service & Haredi Society
The Haredi public wants a full legal exemption for those who study Torah full-time, and for other Haredi men to perform military or national service. The Haredi public rejects sanctions and wants to expand Haredi tracks (hesder yeshivas, a “Haredi division”) with positive incentives, placing it between exemption and a gradual increase by agreement.
Economy, Welfare & Public Services
The Haredi Public's platform provides for a simple flat-rate tax, the elimination of sector-specific tax breaks and a reduction in capital gains tax to 20%, along with the elimination of public programs deemed unjustified.
Education
The Haredi Public wants Haredi children to learn English and mathematics by strengthening the state-Haredi education stream and parental choice. At the same time, its platform defends the independence of each community (“without any interference”) and does not provide for imposing these subjects on all funded schools.
Religion & State
The Haredi Public presents itself as a Haredi party committed to the Torah, guided by a committee of rabbis; it is therefore probably opposed to civil marriage (a position inferred from the party's Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
Individual Rights & Society
The Haredi Public follows religious law and a committee of rabbis; it is therefore probably opposed to a civil union for same-sex couples (a position inferred from the party’s Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
Economy, Welfare & Public Services
To lower prices, the Haredi public wants to abolish customs duties, import quotas and unnecessary barriers, expand parallel imports and open sectors to competition (ports, agriculture).
History
Moti Leitner, deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh, had founded and led the local Derech list in the 2024 municipal elections, in which it had won two seats.
He founded The Haredi Public on July 19, 2026, before officially launching the party's campaign on August 23, 2026, in Beit Shemesh, under the slogan “This time, we take responsibility”.
The party presents itself as an alternative to Shas and United Torah Judaism, aiming to put forward representatives capable of competing with these established parties on their own electoral turf.
Current platform
✓The party proposes extending service (military, security or civic) to Haredim who are not full-time students, through “adapted tracks”.
✓It explicitly protects genuine full-time students from any sanctions.
✓It combines a free-market approach with affirmative action measures and incentives for employers.
✓It makes reducing housing costs a stated priority.
✓It proposes a reform of Haredi education that includes the core curriculum.
Promises and record
The party is new: launched in August 2026, it has never contested an election or served in government. There is therefore no governmental record to assess.
Candidate list (9)
2 women7 men
Documented positions
Military Service & Haredi Society1 position+
What should Israel do about military service for yeshiva students?
The Haredi public wants a full legal exemption for those who study Torah full-time, and for other Haredi men to perform military or national service. The Haredi public rejects sanctions and wants to expand Haredi tracks (hesder yeshivas, a “Haredi division”) with positive incentives, placing it between exemption and a gradual increase by agreement.
Israel should allow civil marriage, in addition to religious marriage.
The Haredi Public presents itself as a Haredi party committed to the Torah, guided by a committee of rabbis; it is therefore probably opposed to civil marriage (a position inferred from the party's Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
The state should keep funding religious institutions and services the way it does today.
The Haredi Public wants to protect “the Torah world” and yeshiva students; it therefore probably supports maintaining public funding for religious institutions (a position inferred from the party’s Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
A Reform or Conservative (Masorti) conversion to Judaism, carried out abroad, should continue to give the right to make .
Like the other Haredi parties, the Haredi Public probably does not recognize Reform or Masorti conversions (a position inferred from the party’s Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue). Moti Leitner also wants to encourage aliyah by Diaspora Jews.
Public transport should operate on Shabbat where local residents want it.
The Haredi Public defends the observance of the Torah and of religious life in the public space; it is therefore probably opposed to public transport on Shabbat (a position inferred from the party’s Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
The state should lower taxes, even if this means cutting some public spending.
The Haredi Public's platform provides for a simple flat-rate tax, the elimination of sector-specific tax breaks and a reduction in capital gains tax to 20%, along with the elimination of public programs deemed unjustified.
What would be the best way to lower prices in Israel?
To lower prices, the Haredi public wants to abolish customs duties, import quotas and unnecessary barriers, expand parallel imports and open sectors to competition (ports, agriculture).
Israel should create a civil union open to same-sex couples, with the same rights as married couples.
The Haredi Public follows religious law and a committee of rabbis; it is therefore probably opposed to a civil union for same-sex couples (a position inferred from the party’s Haredi identity, without a statement on this specific issue).
Haredi schools that receive state money should be required to teach core subjects (math, English, science), like other schools.
The Haredi Public wants Haredi children to learn English and mathematics by strengthening the state-Haredi education stream and parental choice. At the same time, its platform defends the independence of each community (“without any interference”) and does not provide for imposing these subjects on all funded schools.
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