ABSTRACT
The party leaders of Israel's three religious parties finished the election campaign of 2003 with relief. Two out of the three parties had faced uphill battles to hold on to their strength. Pessimistic pre-election polls predicted sharp losses for Shas, the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi party, and for the National Religious Party (NRP). Six weeks before the election, pollsters predicted a 65 per cent decline in support for Shas, giving it only six seats (compared to its previous 17). 1 Opinion polls predicted that the NRP which had fallen from nine seats to five in 1999, would lose yet another seat in 2003. The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi party, which is generally the most stable of Israel's political parties, faced mild challenge from Herut, a new ultra-right nationalist party that had placed Baruch Marzel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, as number two on its list. The rabbis were concerned that some of their voters might defy rabbinical discipline and vote for Herut, which would result in the loss of a seat.
