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United Torah Judaism יהדות התורה | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Yitzhak Goldknopf |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Ideology | Haredi non-Zionism[4] |
| Political position |
|
| Religion | Haredi Judaism |
| International affiliation | World Agudath Israel |
| Colours | Navy blue |
| Knesset | 7 / 120 |
| Most MKs | 8 (2019) |
| Election symbol | |
| ג ج [6] | |
United Torah Judaism (Hebrew:יהדות התורה,Yahadut HaTorah) is aHaredi,religious conservative[7]political alliance inIsrael. The alliance, consisting ofAgudat Yisrael andDegel HaTorah, was first formed in 1992, in order to maximizeAshkenaziHaredi representation in theKnesset. Despite the alliance splitting in 2004 over rabbinical differences, the parties reconciled in2006, in order to preventvote-wasting. InApril 2019, the party achieved its highest number of seats ever, receiving eight seats.
Unlike similar religiously-oriented parties in Israel, likeShas, theNational Religious Party–Religious Zionism,Otzma Yehudit, andNoam, UTJ isnon-Zionist. Unlike some other Haredim, the party is notable for its usage of technology and electronic communication.[8]
Before the establishment of Degel HaTorah and the formation of United Torah Judaism, the two factions were united under one united Agudat Yisrael party, but the late mentor and supreme guide of the non-Hasidic group, RabbiElazar Shach, broke away from Agudat Yisrael when he concluded that the party was not representing enough the political interests of the Lithuanian Haredim. At that point, he split from them, and created theDegel HaTorah party for the "Lithuanian" Haredi Jews (also known as "Mitnagdim" by some). He chose the name Degel HaTorah, meaning "Flag of The Torah", to be a contrast to the well-knownflag of Israel and its connection with the secular-dominatedState of Israel (an "anti-Torah" entity, in his opinion). Rabbi Shach was known as an outspoken critic of the secular Israeli way of life.
The UTJ party also had considerable influence on the IsraeliSephardi Jews'Shas party. In fact, the Shas party was founded by Rabbi Shach at an earlier juncture when he was previously also frustrated with the policies of the Hasidic rebbes; so, he turned to the Sephardic Jews, and urged his own Ashkenazi followers at that time, to vote for the new Shas party, which they did in record numbers. Later, Shas broke with Rabbi Shach, as it adopted its own independent political stance under RabbiOvadia Yosef. Yet, Shas generally goes in the same direction, as it has similar values, needs and interests within the state.
Haaretz cited that some women activists have protested the fact that UTJ, along with other Haredi parties, refuses to run female candidates for office.[9] UTJ responded that they have the right to follow the Jewish laws of modesty, which separates roles of men and women, and maintain that they do not deny women the right to vote for any other Knesset parties of their choice. They add that Haredi women will not vote for them if they elect women.[10]
In January 2004, the party split back into its two factions following a disagreement over how to joinAriel Sharon's coalition, which had been negotiated by RabbiYosef Shalom Eliashiv. Rabbi Eliashiv wanted the five MKs to have a three-month "waiting period" before accepting jobs in the government. RabbiYaakov Aryeh Alter, the Gerrer rebbe, however, thought that all Agudat members should accept positions immediately. The Agudat MKs argued that they should be entitled to follow their own rabbis' ruling, while their Degel HaTorah counterparts accused them of disrespecting Rabbi Eliashiv. The Agudat faction proceeded to follow the rebbe of Gur's instructions, with MKYaakov Litzman accepting the position as chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee. This infuriated Degel HaTorah and its leaders, and in response, they left the party, dissolving a twelve-year-old partnership.
In December 2005, there was a meeting between representatives of the two factions, presumably to smooth over the ill-feelings of the previous year and to attempt to re-group before theMarch 2006 elections. A number of issues were worked out, such as Degel HaTorah's insistence on the joint list being equally divided between the two parties. (In the past, Agudat Israel has received more votes than Degel HaTorah.) Degel HaTorah has re-organized itself. It has a fully equipped modern party office on Hamabit Street 10 in Jerusalem'sGeula neighborhood. It conducted a party convention, its first in 15 years, in December 2005.
In early February 2006, Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah agreed to run together as United Torah Judaism, despite the fact that the contentious "sixth seat" issue remained undecided. The two groups finally compromised by proposing dividing the sixth seat between two representatives on a rotating schedule (as was done in the last Knesset between theBelz andVizhnitz communities for the fifth seat).[11][12] This solution seemed to mollify the respective groups, and paved the way for the re-establishment of a joint list for the 2006 elections, although the Belz court was reportedly irked that once again, it was being asked to sacrifice part of its representation.[13]
UTJ MKs told reporters that any decision to join future government coalitions will be dependent on achieving two "central posts" to be split between Agudah and Degel. Similarly, in order to avoid the problems that led to the 2004 split, disagreements about joining a coalition will not be determined by a majority vote of MKs, but rather taken to the party's rabbinic leaders.[12]
Various media interviews with the party's Knesset members confirmed that it would strongly consider joining a coalition with theEhud Olmert-ledKadima party, should it be offered to them after the elections.[14] In March 2006, the rabbinical leaders of UTJ, including RabbiYosef Shalom Eliashiv, issued public declarations urging the Haredi public to vote for the party's list. In the election, the party increased its mandate by one, to six seats.
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UTJ wants to maintain the "status quo" relationship in regard to religion-and-state issues. The party has no uniform opinion on the issue of increasing settlements in the West Bank.[7]
UTJ has always been a coalition of two individual parties, choosing to take advantage of Israeli election law in order to maximize the number of seats it can gain in the Knesset (and thus maximize its influence):
The Agudat Yisrael faction takes its directions from the Hasidicrebbes ofGer (RabbiYaakov Aryeh Alter),Vizhnitz (RabbiYisroel Hager), andBelz (RabbiYissachar Dov Rokeach). Policy decisions are also weighed and decided by aMoetzes Gedolei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages"), a council of communal rabbis, made up of mostly senior and elderlyrebbes.
Degel HaTorah's pre-eminent sages are Rabbi Dov Landau and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, ofBnei Brak. Policy decisions are also weighed and decided by their own "Moetzes" (Council) of experienced communal rabbis, made up of mostly senior and elderlyrosh yeshivas. There is no word from the party on the process of succession as leader, and it usually unofficially announced in their daily newspaper "Yated Neeman".
| Name | Ideology | Demographic | Leader | Current MKs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agudat Yisrael | Religious conservatism | Hasidic | Yaakov Litzman | 3 / 120 | |
| Degel HaTorah | Religious conservatism | Litvish | Moshe Gafni | 4 / 120 | |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Avraham Yosef Shapira | 86,167 | 3.29 (#7) | 4 / 120 |  3 | Opposition |
| 1996 | Meir Porush | 98,657 | 3.23 (#8) | 4 / 120 |  | Coalition |
| 1999 | 125,741 | 3.80 (#9) | 5 / 120 |  1 | Coalition | |
| 2003 | Yaakov Litzman | 135,087 | 4.29 (#8) | 5 / 120 | | Opposition |
| 2006 | 147,091 | 4.69 (#8) | 6 / 120 | 1 | Opposition | |
| 2009 | 147,954 | 4.39 (#6) | 5 / 120 | 1 | Coalition | |
| 2013 | 195,892 | 5.16 (#6) | 7 / 120 | 2 | Opposition | |
| 2015 | 210,143 | 4.99 (#9) | 6 / 120 | 1 | Coalition | |
| Apr 2019 | 249,049 | 5.78 (#4) | 8 / 120 | 2 | Caretaker | |
| Sep 2019 | 268,688 | 6.06 (#6) | 7 / 120 | 1 | Caretaker | |
| 2020 | 274,437 | 5.98 (#5) | 7 / 120 | | Coalition | |
| 2021 | Moshe Gafni | 248,391 | 5.63 (#7) | 7 / 120 | | Opposition |
| 2022 | Yitzhak Goldknopf | 280,125 | 5.88 (#6) | 7 / 120 | | Coalition |
המצעים והקמפיינים של ש"ס ושל יהדות התורה בבחירות האחרונות היו הכי סוציאל-דמוקרטיים מבין כל המפלגות היהודיות שהתמודדו לכנסת. חברי הכנסת גפני, ליצמן, מרגי ואחרים משתפים פעולה יום יום עם חברי הכנסת הסוציאל-דמוקרטים המובהקים ביותר במשכן; גפני אף נחשב במשך שנים לסמן השמאלי בוועדת הכספים, ולמי שעצר – לעתים בגופו – מהלכים ניאו-ליברליים של נתניהו.
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