As the votes in Israel are being counted, with no clear majority for either bloc, the Charedi parties are counting their losses.
While Shas remains strong at 9 mandates, and UTJ will most probably make it to 7, the backstory shows some significant bleeding from both parties.
Charedi ballots in some cities show as high as 10% voted for Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, while the rest are mostly accounted for by lower turnout rates.
Moshe Gafni Gafni- first time Degel UTJ leader who recently took over from the Chassidic Adudath Israel party, replacing Ya’akov Litzman- is reportedly angry at his Chassidic colleagues, who he blames for the downturn.
Shas is reportedly blaming neglect of its base while canvassing for votes on the national religious front these past elections.
