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NEWS
Where Did UTJ Votes Come From? — An Analysis
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
"Had we received a sixth mandate in the 2003 election,"
Modi'in Illit Council Head Rabbi Yaakov Guterman told
Yated Ne'eman, "we and the Jewish people in the State
of Israel would have been spared great misfortune. The sixth
mandate would have completely changed the political
constellation and would have had far-reaching ramifications
in terms of relations within Israeli society and government
priorities. The Shinui-NRP coalition would not have formed,
the Knesset would have looked different—a different
government from top to bottom. A whole different world." (If
UTJ had gotten the sixth seat NRP would have had one less.
UTJ actually had more votes.)
For the 16th Knesset (2003 elections) in Jerusalem and Bnei
Brak there were 70,645 UTJ votes and 45,264 in other primary
chareidi areas—a total of 115,909 votes or 4.636
mandates. Elsewhere there were 19,178 UTJ votes or 0.767 of a
mandate. The total votes were 135,087 or 5.4 mandates.
For the 15th Knesset (1999), in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem there
64,317 UTJ votes and 34,257 in other chareidi areas—a
total of 98,574 votes or 3.943 mandates. Now pay careful
attention. Elsewhere there were 25,565 UTJ votes or 1.022
mandates. The total votes were 124,139 or 5 mandates. This
leaves us with an obvious conclusion: The traditional (non-
chareidi) sector provided UTJ its fifth mandate in the 1999
elections.
Here are some figures from the field. In 1999 Eilat gave UTJ
589 votes, in 2003 just 67. In 1999 Ashkelon provided 1,188
votes, in 2003 the city cast just 669 votes for UTJ. In 1999
in Beer Sheva 1,384 votes were cast for UTJ. In 2003? A mere
784. The same pattern repeated itself in Beit She'an, Bat
Yam, Holon and elsewhere.
The cruel facts are staring us in the face: according to the
breakdown in the 1999 elections 79 percent of our votes came
from chareidim, 21 percent from other voters. Whereas in
2003, 86 percent of votes came from chareidim, 14 percent
from other voters.
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