Porush's mayoral campaign still lacking haredi unity

Rabbi Elyashiv reportedly orders UTJ's Degel Hatorah faction to suspend negotiations with candidate.

By MATTHEW WAGNER
MK Meir Porush 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski )
MK Meir Porush 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski )
United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush continues to face difficulties in his bid to muster a united haredi front for the Jerusalem mayoral campaign. Over the weekend, there were haredi media reports that Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv had ordered UTJ's Degel Hatorah faction to suspend negotiations with Porush. A source close to Elyashiv said the nonagenarian rabbi, considered the supreme halachic authority for Ashkenazi-Lithuanian haredim, was concerned that Porush lacked the requisite backing within his Agudat Yisrael faction. "How can you expect Degel Hatorah to reach an agreement with Porush if he cannot seem to get the backing of his own party?" said the source. " First let him get things straightened out in Aguda, then we can talk." UTJ, the political party representing Ashkenazi haredi interests, is composed of two factions, the hassidic Agudat Yisrael and the Lithuanian Degel Hatorah. Degel Hatorah - the faction of Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski - and Agudat Yisrael signed a rotation agreement before the mayoral elections in 2003, under which an Agudat Yisrael candidate was to be the agreed-upon haredi candidate in this year's contest. Polls, however, have been predicting that Porush will lose the mayoral race against Nir Barkat, a secular venture capitalist who lost to Lupolianski in 2003 and has since been a member of the Jerusalem City Council. Concern that Porush does not have what it takes to win the race may have helped lead ex-Shas chairman Aryeh Deri to consider a bid for mayor. Even within Porush's own Agudat Yisrael there are those who would prefer to see Deri run, since he is considered more likely to defeat Barkat. Meanwhile, another development has further undermined Porush's political fortunes. Agudat Yisrael's list for the Bnei Brak elections has split into two separate lists: one affiliated with Porush and one affiliated with the Ger Hassidim, the nation's largest hassidic sect. Although the split might still be rectified, resembled the larger split within Agudat Yisrael between those supporting Porush and those who have yet to pledge their support. UTJ chairman Ya'acov Litzman, who is a Ger hassid, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday that he was concerned about the ramifications of the split in Bnei Brak for Jerusalem. "If Porush cannot come through in Bnei Brak, how can we trust him in Jerusalem?" he asked. Litzman said Ger was still holding negotiations with Porush over ongoing disagreements, but he would not elaborate. A spokesman for Porush said Sunday night that headway was being made in the negotiations with Ger. "The plane is on the runway ready for takeoff," the spokesman said. "Anyone who is not on board will lose out." The excitement in the haredi street at the prospect that Deri might run underlines Porush's relatively drab standing. Deri, however, will have to overcome legal problems before he can run. He was convicted in 1999 of accepting $155,000 in bribes from the Lev Banim nonprofit organization and sentenced to three years in jail. The conviction included a determination by the court that the crimes involved "moral turpitude," meaning that Deri could not run for public office for seven years after completing his prison sentence - in this case, in 2009. The only way Deri can run is if President Shimon Peres agrees to shorten the length of time that the status of "moral turpitude" applies to him. Deri has not yet asked Peres to do so, but if he is serious about running, he will have no choice. The Movement for Quality Government has asked to meet with Peres to demand that he does not accede to any such request from Deri, should he make it. Dan Izenberg contributed to this report.