Legislation10/24/2026

Haredi Activists Combine Work in Their Parties With Status in Likud

Ynet News reported that activists who participated in the Likud primaries are now working on the campaign staffs of Agudat Yisrael and Shas. Some remain members of the Likud Central Committee, but the official prohibition on membership in two parties may not apply because the Haredi parties do not conduct mass membership drives.

Key facts

•Statutory provision: Section 15 of the Parties Law, 5752–1992
•The prohibition: registration as a member of more than one party
•Penalty for a false declaration: up to one year in prison
•Eliezer Lutzkin: 49th place on the United Torah Judaism list
•Aharon Elboim: a group of approximately 300 Likud members

What the Media Outlet Revealed

According to Ynet News, the activists recruited Haredi voters to Likud, and during the primaries distributed pre-prepared lists containing recommended candidates. Some of those organizers now hold official positions on Agudat Yisrael’s election campaign staff, and one of them appeared in a Shas campaign video.

The Activists Named

Aharon Elboim, who headed a group of approximately 300 Likud members, is listed as head of Agudat Yisrael’s field campaign, while remaining a member of the Likud Central Committee and deputy mayor of Bnei Brak on behalf of Agudat Yisrael. Eliezer Lutzkin, according to a match of his identity card number, is listed simultaneously as a member of the Likud Central Committee and as the United Torah Judaism candidate for the Knesset in the 49th slot, which is not considered realistic; he also heads Agudat Yisrael’s communities campaign in Jerusalem. The report also cites additional examples of activists connected to Likud, Agudat Yisrael and Shas.

What the Law Says

Section 15 of the Parties Law, 5752–1992, provides that a person may not be registered as a member of more than one party. A false declaration regarding the existence or absence of party membership is punishable by up to one year in prison. However, as Ynet News explains, the Haredi parties have no mass membership drive and charge no membership dues, so activists may officially be registered only with Likud while, in practice, working for another party.

No Legal Conclusion Was Reached

The Ynet News article describes an apparent loophole between official membership and actual party activity, but does not report the opening of criminal proceedings, an examination by a competent authority or a court ruling. The report also does not indicate that any of the people named were officially found to have violated Section 15. Responses from Eliezer Lutzkin and Nir Ariel were not received by the newsroom; other activists mentioned explained that their activities were carried out in the interests of the relevant communities.

What this means for you

For an ordinary citizen, it is important to distinguish between official membership in a party and political activity on its behalf: the law explicitly prohibits simultaneous registration with two parties. The situation described by Ynet News shows that, in the absence of official membership in the second party, it may be more difficult to prove a violation of this prohibition. The article itself does not determine the guilt of the people mentioned.

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