ASHDOD, Israel — One day only before the election, the ultra-Orthodox parties are shifting gears in order to make sure their voters actually go to the polls. Against these parties, one of the most extreme ultra-Orthodox streams — Haeda HaHaredit — held a large rally last night, calling on its people not to vote. For them, Jews should avoid participating in Israeli secular politics.

In contrast to previous elections, two main trends can be seen in these no-vote efforts.

The first is the push to ensure the right-wing bloc has a majority. The ultra-Orthodox parties no longer see themselves as a separate bloc, disconnected from governing institutions of the secular state, but see it as their responsibility to ensure the fate of the right-wing bloc and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

This can be seen, for example, in tweets by United Torah Judaism (UTJ) senior Moshe Gafni. “We are in a place where a single vote matters, in a situation of 60 mandates. If the whole right-wing bloc doesn’t vote, it could be a huge catastrophe for the Jewish people. If one more mandate goes to vote, we will win this round!” Gafni tweeted last week.