Last week the TOV political party of Bet Shemesh held what is probably the first primaries of a Haredi party.
Truth is that is not really the first, as they said it was. In Beitar the Degel faction has held primaries just a couple weeks ago, but also in years past, to determine its leader. There is a difference, as in Beitar there was national party involvement and it was not purely a primary of the people. TOV was more grassroots, even if simply because they have no national party affiliation.
Either way, it seems that TOV has already had a major influence on the local political scene. Following in TOV's footsteps, the "Shomrei Emunim" faction of UTJ in Bet Shemesh has decided to hold an abbreviated primary to determine its list of representatives that will be placed accordingly in the larger UTJ list.
(source: Ladaat)
Dovid Veiner, Shlomei Emunim
The Shomrei Emunim faction, led nationally by Meir Porush, is currently led locally by Dovid Veiner. That may or may not change, depending on what happens this week. Veiner and Shlomei Emunim have been demanding a higher position in the upcoming coalition, assuming Moshe Abutbol wins reelection, on the basis of an implicit rotational agreement as UTJ works around the country. With Degel having held the more senior positions (of the UTJ faction) in the outgoing coalition, Shlomei Emunim says it deserves the more senior positions (of the UTJ faction) in the upcoming coalition. There are rumors that Porush may be angling for a deal in which he gives up to UTJ his demands in Bet Shemesh for the more senior positions in exchange for support in Elad for his sons candidacy for mayor.How will the primaries work, as it is only a faction of the larger party?
The Shlomei Emunim faction is made up of a number of the smaller Hassidic courts. Whoever wants to submit his candidacy to head the Shlomei Emunim list must do so by Monday (tomorrow), and on Wednesday the vote will be held.
The voting in the primary will not be conducted by the voters in the general population, who are members of Shlomei Emunim. The voting will be conducted by community representatives, divided up among the various Hassidic groups associated with Shomrei Emunim. The largest group within Shlomei Emunim is Breslav, and they get 37 representatives on the electoral body. Hamasmidim has 27 reps, and Vizhnitz Monsey has 18 reps.
With UTJ polled to increase its representation, from the currently held 5 municipal mandates to anywhere from 6 to 8 mandates, Shomrei Emunim might even get more than one rep into the UTJ faction's realistic slots.
In addition to Dovid Veiner of Sadigure and Biala, Avraham Nachman Frankel of the Breslav faction has also submitted his candidacy, along with Shimon Goldberg of Lelov. There is also talk of a Seret Vizhnitzer Shmulik Tirer) from Petach Tikva possibly submitting his candidacy and he would move to Bet Shemesh.
According to the article, Chabad is in negotiations to join Shlomei Emunim. This would be a big hit to TOV. Despite not having any commitment yet for the coming elections, in the last elections Chabad supported TOV.
Things are getting shaken up...
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