There have been reports that the person trying to unite the chareidim under one umbrella has agreed to a representative of HaRav Meir Mazuz, Rosh Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim, providing that representative is not Eli Yishai, who heads the Yachad party.

According to reports, a grandson of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, Yanki Kanievsky, is working to unite the chareidi parties into one list for the elections for the 21st Knesset, realizing the strength such a list could have, but to date, such a reality seems to be nothing more than a dream at best. This address all the chareidi parties, not just the major players.

This new entity would bring an end to machlokes within, and it would not just include Shas, Yahadut Hatorah and Degel Hatorah, but the Yachad party headed by the former Shas leader as well as the Bnei Torah party affiliated with Peleg Yerushalmi.

According to a report from Chadashot News correspondent Yair Shariki, this includes a representative of Rav Mazuz, and not necessarily Eli Yishai himself. On Wednesday morning, Yachad officials are quoted telling Ladaat News that if the plan moves forward, that representative would be Yishai himself.

Chadashot add it has learned that the offer includes two slots for Yachad in the first ten on the list, for Yishai and another as it is hoped achdus will make ten seats a reality, not just a dream.

In the event Shas and Yahadut Hatorah team up without Yachad, the party plans to run its own independent list to serve as a home from all those disappointed with the existing parties in the hope this time, they will receive the required push and the votes they did not receive last time, which resulted in those votes being trashed and Yachad not entering the Knesset.

When the Committee of Eight of Agudas Yisrael met earlier in the week, Yaakov Litzman addressed the Yanki Kanievsky’s initiative, commenting he and secretary of the Moetzas Gedolei Torah Rav Waltzer met with Yanki Kanievsky because Litzman wanted the representative of the Gedolei Torah to hear it directly from the source, and not from him as a quoting the source.

Rav Waltzer in turn visited the homes of the members of the council to brief them after the Committee of Eight approved in principal. They now await to hear what Shas chairman Aryeh Deri regarding the initiative. According to the report, only if Deri agrees will they then advance to speak with Yachad and Peleg Yerushalmi.

Another new party is joining the race for the upcoming Knesset election, headed by retired IDF Brigadier-General Gal Hirsch, called the Magen Yisrael party.

According to a report by journalist Chaim Levinson in Haaretz, Gal Hirsch on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, registered a new party with the Registrar of Parties in the Ministry of Justice, which will be called Magen Israel.

Hirsch gained public sympathy after Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan appointed him as the next police commissioner, but due to an investigation against him, his appointment was thwarted and he dropped out of the race and the appointment went to current commissioner, Roni Alshich.

Hirsch’s party joins the new parties, which have been established since the prime minister declared elections, among them the Chosen Yisrael headed by former IDF Chief Benny Gantz, Telem headed by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Gesher headed by Orli Levy-Abekasis, the New Right party by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, Achi Yisraeli headed by Rebitzen Adina Bar Shalom and the Protest Movement headed by Eldad Yaniv, along with some others.

It should be noted that since the announcement of early elections, there have been calls to secure a guaranteed slot for Hirsh on the Likud list as well as other lists. It is not clear why Hirsch decided to establish his own party, as it is unclear whether he will succeed in passing the electoral threshold independently.

Gal Hirsh’s friends, who are behind the establishment of the party, told BeChadrei Chareidim that “we are proposing to everyone to join a rightist, Zionist and ideological man”.

Supports of Hirsch remind the public of Hirsch’s illustrious past, and that he became the ‘fall guy‘ in the Second Lebanon War, as clearly, there were persons who were determined to block the future of the highly-decorate combat officer and rising star, who was in line to become the IDF chief of staff.