simcha613:
“Is that true that they simply represent the religious needs of the nation as a whole?”
As I pointed out previously, some of the primary religious issues that the Chareidi parties deal with are mandating that stores and bus routes be closed on Shabbos and strengthening the Halachic nature of the state geirus system. Neither one of these issues directly affect the Chareidi community, and yet they are heavily involved in these and other such issues because they believe in strengthening the Halachic observance and jewish character of the state.
I once read in R’ Shlomo Lorincz’s book (although I don’t remember the exact details, I think this a pretty accurate re-telling) that R’ Shach once got up at an election kinus in Bnei Brak and spoke about the severity of desecrating Shabbos. He then asked the obvious question “Why am I talking about Shabbos in Bnei Brak, is anybody here thinking of ch”v desecrating Shabbos?! But when you get up to shomayim, they’ll ask you why you didn’t vote for Charedi representatives in the Knesset who would have strengthened the observance of Shabbos!”
“I heard rumors (and I hope they aren’t true) that when they are in charge of funding for yeshivos, it is disproportionately in favor of the Chareidi yeshivos as opposed to the Religious Zionist yeshivos?”
Don’t believe everything you hear. Even when rumors are true, they are often wildly exaggerated.
That said, there is indeed a tendency among politicians to look out for the interests of their voters before the interests of other citizens. This phenomena is by no means limited to Chareidi politicians. (I seem to remember a statement by then Bayit Yehudi MK Uri Orbach that he would like to divert all available funding to Dati-Leumi Yeshivos.) Perhaps ideally it shouldn’t be this way, but it is all too often the reality.
“Not to mention, that they are also involved in dealing with the poverty in Charedi communities (other than career services), but it doesn’t seem like they are involved in dealing with poverty as a whole.”
Shas has always focused on poverty and social issues to some extent, and it has never to the best of my knowledge differentiated between the poverty of Charedim and non-Chareidim (although its campaigns are generally targeted toward Sephardim).
The focus on poverty by UTJ is a fairly recent development, mostly in reaction to the efforts of Lapid to against their community.
However, the primary issues for the Chareidi parties have always been and continue to be religious in nature – be they about Shabbos, geirus, and kevurah in accordance with Halacha or about learning Torah.