Degel HaTorah דגל התורה | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Moshe Gafni |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Split from | Agudat Yisrael |
| Newspaper | Yated Ne'eman |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Religion | Haredi Judaism (Misnagdim) |
| Alliance | United Torah Judaism |
| Knesset | 3 / 120 |
| Election symbol | |
| עץ | |
| Website | |
| http://m.degel.org.il/ | |
Degel HaTorah (Hebrew:דגל התורה,lit. 'Banner of theTorah') is anAshkenaziHaredipolitical party inIsrael. For much of its existence, it has been allied withAgudat Yisrael, under the nameUnited Torah Judaism.
Degel HaTorah was founded in 1988, as a splinter from Agudat Israel.[3] Its establishment by RabbiElazar Shach was due to ongoing policy disputes with theHasidicrabbis within Agudat Yisrael. In the1988 elections, the party won two seats, taken byAvraham Ravitz andMoshe Gafni, and joinedYitzhak Shamir's coalition government. For the1992 elections, the party allied itself with Agudat Yisrael, under the nameUnited Torah Judaism.
Although the party split shortly before the1996 elections, they re-united for the elections. This was repeated for the1999,2006, and2009 elections.
As of 2022, the party has threeMKs (of the seven representing United Torah Judaism):Moshe Gafni,Uri Maklev, andYa'akov Asher.
Degel HaTorah represents the "Lithuanian wing" of the non-Hasidic Haredim (known as "Mitnagdim"), as opposed to theHasidic-dominatedAgudat Yisrael party. Sometimes, the parties compete against each other; at other times, they join forces within a political alliance calledUnited Torah Judaism (UTJ) (Yahadut HaTorah in Hebrew).
In Jerusalem, it was based on a long-standing argument against a 1989 agreement between Degel HaTorah's then-spiritual leader RabbiElazar Shach, the veneratedRosh yeshiva of the famedPonevezh Yeshiva inBnei Brak, and the spiritual leader of Agudat Yisrael, thePnei Menachem ofGur, Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter. The deal, based on the demographics of the time, stated that when UTJ would join forces, Aguda would receive 60% of the seats, and Degel 40%. This agreement was first contested in May 2016, when Degel'sKnesset leaderMoshe Gafni demanded that then-Deputy Education MinisterMeir Porush resign from the Knesset, in order to give Degel 3 out of the 6 seats held by UTJ. Porush was able to keep his ministerial position under the 2015 so-calledNorwegian Law. In 2018, Degel reached a 50-50 agreement with Aguda, with an Aguda representative as the Chairman of the party.[citation needed]
Degel HaTorah'srabbinical arbiter ("posek") was, until his death in 2012,[4]centenarian RabbiYosef Shalom Eliashiv ofJerusalem. Rabbi Eliashiv served as one of two Chairmen of Degel HaTorah'sMoetzes Gedolei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages"). After Rabbi Eliyashiv's death, RabbiAharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman led the party; after him, by RabbiChaim Kanievsky and RabbiGershon Edelstein.[5]
 | This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is:UTJ has left the gov., as of July 2025. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2025) |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Avraham Ravitz | 34,279 | 1.50 (#13) | 2 / 120 | New | Coalition |
| 1992 | Part ofUnited Torah Judaism | 1 / 120 |  1 | Opposition | ||
| 1996 | 2 / 120 |  1 | Coalition | |||
| 1999 | 2 / 120 |  | Coalition | |||
| 2003 | 2 / 120 | | Opposition | |||
| 2006 | Moshe Gafni | 2 / 120 | | Opposition | ||
| 2009 | 2 / 120 | | Coalition | |||
| 2013 | 3 / 120 | 1 | Opposition | |||
| 2015 | 3 / 120 | | Coalition | |||
| Apr 2019 | 4 / 120 | 1 | Caretaker | |||
| Sep 2019 | 3 / 120 | 1 | Caretaker | |||
| 2020 | 4 / 120 | 1 | Coalition | |||
| 2021 | 4 / 120 | | Opposition | |||
| 2022 | 3 / 120 | 1 | Coalition | |||
Authority control databases: National |
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