The two main ultra-Orthodox parties running in the April 9 elections are Ashkenazi Yahadut HaTorah and Sephardic Shas. The two parties traditionally target different constituencies and have their own rabbis and educational system. In fact, Shas was founded in 1984 over the discrimination against Sephardic Jews by the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox establishment, and in order to offer a political alternative to Yahadut HaTorah.

But what happened on March 31 surprised even the most wizened veterans of ultra-Orthodox politics. Two outsiders, former Shas chairman Eli Yishai and his spiritual mentor Rabbi Meir Mazuz, participated in Yahadut HaTorah’s election rally in Jerusalem’s Conference Center, with all the major Ashkenazi rabbis in attendance. A few days earlier, the two men, the head of a prominent Sephardic yeshiva and the former head of Shas, had publicly voiced their support for Yahadut HaTorah.

During the event, which took place entirely in Yiddish, Mazuz was given the unusual honor of addressing the crowd in Hebrew. He expressed complete support for Yahadut HaTorah. “Don’t think that the Sephardim won’t vote [Yahadut HaTorah] this time,” he said, noting that the first spiritual leader of Shas, late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, had voted for Yahadut HaTorah as a young man.

In the evening before the event, Mazuz tried to explain to his followers what he was doing: “The Ashkenazim are good people who care about everyone. They care about the Torah and sanctify God’s name." He said, "We had no choice, because Shas was acting as if they were angry with us and vetoing us at every turn.” Shas leader Aryeh Deri had vetoed Yishai's ministerial appointment. “But the veto was overturned. … Thank God, we're set free. This time we’re supporting Yahadut HaTorah,” he concluded.