AAQ – Another possible explanation – they gathered, but did not daven together. I am told that they decided to have tehilim instead of speeches, because there was no one agreed speech, as groups vary widely in the political terms.
I was there. The Achdus was amazing. There was a rotation of Sephardi Litvish and Chassidish chazzanim saying Sephardi and Ashkenazi Selichos and Tehillim. There was an agreed upon speech or declaration of sorts at the end, but the main focus was in fact on Tefillah.