United Torah Judaism

Israeli electoral alliance

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United Torah Judaism

יהדות התורה

Leader| Yitzhak Goldknopf
Founded| 1992
Ideology|

* Ashkenazi Haredi
interests[1][2]
* Religious conservatism
* Social conservatism
* Social democracy[3]

Haredi non-Zionism[4]
Political position|

* Economic:
* Centre-left
* Social:
* Right-wing[5]

Religion| Haredi Judaism
International affiliation| World Agudath Israel
Colours|   Navy blue
Knesset|

7 / 120

Most MKs| 8 (2019)
Election symbol

[6]

* Politics of Israel
* Political parties
* Elections

United Torah Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות התורה, Yahadut HaTora) is a Haredi, religious conservative[7] political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, was first formed in 1992, in order to maximize Ashkenazi Haredi representation in the Knesset. Despite the alliance splitting in 2004 over rabbinical differences, the parties reconciled in 2006, in order to prevent vote-wasting. In April 2019, the party achieved its highest number of seats ever, receiving eight seats.

Unlike similar religiously-oriented parties in Israel, like Shas, the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam, UTJ is non-Zionist. Unlike some other Haredim, the party is notable for its usage of technology and electronic communication.[8]

## History

[edit]

First logo of the list

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, Rabbi Elazar 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 the Degel 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-known flag of Israel and its connection with the secular-dominated State 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 Israeli Sephardi 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 Rabbi Ovadia 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]

### 2004 split

[edit]

In January 2004, the party split back into its two factions following a disagreement over how to join Ariel Sharon's coalition, which had been negotiated by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. Rabbi Eliashiv wanted the five MKs to have a three-month "waiting period" before accepting jobs in the government. Rabbi Yaakov 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 MK Yaakov 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.

### Re-unification as a party

[edit]

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 the March 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's Geula 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 the Belz and Vizhnitz 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 the Ehud Olmert-led Kadima party, should it be offered to them after the elections.[14] In March 2006, the rabbinical leaders of UTJ, including Rabbi Yosef 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.

## Ideology

[edit]

This article is part of a series on

Conservatism in Israel

Ideologies

* Conservative Judaism
* Jewish conservatism
* Jewish fundamentalism
* Kahanism
* Religious conservatism
* Zionism
* Cultural
* Ethnic
* Nietzschean
* Neo-
* Religious
* Revisionist

Principles

* Agrarianism
* Anti-Arabism
* Anti-Palestinianism
* Anti-Iranian sentiment
* Anti-Islamism
* Islamophobia
* Authority
* Clericalism
* Familialism
* Hebrew revival
* Homeland for the Jewish people
*  Irredentism
* Greater Israel
* Israeli settlement
* Jewish culture
* Jewish state
* Judeo-Christianity
* Judeo-Christian ethics
* Halachic state
* Jewish supremacism
* Chosen people
* Jewish values
* Law of Return
* Aliyah
* Militarism
* Begin Doctrine
* Gadna
* Natalism
* Nationalism
* Cultural
* Religious
* Ultra
* Orthodoxy
* Patriotism
* Property rights
* Sovereignty
* Theocracy
* Third Temple
* Three Oaths
* Tradition
* Veneration of the dead

Intellectuals

* Eldad
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Politicians

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* Shamir
* Smotrich
* Yosef
* Ze'evi

Literature

* "Iron Wall" (1923)
* The Case for Israel (2003)
* Defending Identity (2008)
* The Virtue of Nationalism (2018)
* Conservatism: A Rediscovery (2022)

Parties

Active

* Agudat Yisrael
* Degel HaTorah
* Likud
* National Religious Party–Religious Zionism
* New Hope
* New Right
* Noam
* Otzma Yehudit
* Shas
* Yisrael Beiteinu

Defunct

* Ahi
* Eretz Yisrael Shelanu
* Hatikva
* Hatzohar
* Herut
* The Jewish Home
* Kach
* Moledet
* National Religious Party
* Religious Zionist Party
* Tehiya
* Yisrael BaAliyah

Alliances

* National Union
* National Unity
* Union of Right-Wing Parties
* United Torah Judaism
* Yamina

Organisations

Active

* Betar
* Hilltop Youth
* Im Tirtzu
* Institute for Zionist Strategies
* Jewish Internet Defense Force
* Kohelet Policy Forum
* Lehava
* Machon Meir
* Mercaz Olami
* My Israel

Defunct

* Gush Emunim
* Irgun
* Manhigut Yehudit

Media

* Arutz Sheva
* B'Sheva
* Channel 14
* HaTzofe
* i24NEWS
* Israel Hayom
* Makor Rishon
* Mida
* The Jerusalem Post

Related topics

* Antimilitarism in Israel
* Non-conscription
* Torato Umanuto
* Refusal
* Far-right politics in Israel
* Haredi Judaism
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* Prevention of Infiltration Law
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* Israeli settler violence
* Price tag attack policy
* Jewish political movements
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* Conservatism portal
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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]

## Structure and constituency

[edit]

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 ("Union of Israel") party that is guided by the followers of Hasidism in Israel, and also consisting of Ashkenazi Jews. The leading members of this party are the followers of the Ger, Vizhnitz, and Belz Hasidim.
* The Degel HaTorah ("Banner of the Torah") party that is guided by the rabbinic heads (usually the leading rosh yeshivas ("deans") of the Lithuanian yeshivas) of non-Hasidic Haredi Ashkenazi Jews.

The Agudat Yisrael faction takes its directions from the Hasidic rebbes of Ger (Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter), Vizhnitz (Rabbi Yisroel Hager), and Belz (Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach). Policy decisions are also weighed and decided by a Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages"), a council of communal rabbis, made up of mostly senior and elderly rebbes.

Degel HaTorah's pre-eminent sages are Rabbi Dov Landau and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, of Bnei Brak. Policy decisions are also weighed and decided by their own "Moetzes" (Council) of experienced communal rabbis, made up of mostly senior and elderly rosh 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 results

[edit]

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

## Knesset members

[edit]

Knesset  | Members

|

18th Knesset (2009–2013)  | 5 seats: Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush (replaced by Yisrael Eichler on 6 February 2011), Uri Maklev, Eliezer Moses
19th Knesset (2013–2015)  | 7 seats: Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Eliezer Moses, Yisrael Eichler, Ya'akov Asher
20th Knesset (2015–2019)  | 6 seats: Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush (replaced by Ya'akov Asher on 24 May 2016), Uri Maklev, Eliezer Moses, Yisrael Eichler
21st Knesset (2019)  | 8 seats: Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Ya'akov Tessler, Ya'akov Asher, Yisrael Eichler, Yitzhak Pindros
22nd Knesset (2019–2020)  | 7 seats: Yaakov Litzman, Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Ya'akov Tessler, Ya'akov Asher, Yisrael Eichler
23rd Knesset (2020–2021)  | 7 seats: Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Ya'akov Tessler, Ya'akov Asher, Yisrael Eichler, Eliyahu Hasid
24th Knesset (2021–2022)  | 7 seats: Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush, Uri Maklev, Yitzhak Pindrus, Ya'akov Asher, Yisrael Eichler, Ya'akov Tessler
25th Knesset (2022–)  | 7 seats: Yitzhak Goldknopf (replaced by Yitzhak Pindrus on 1 January 2023), Moshe Gafni, Meir Porush (replaced by Moshe Roth on 25 January 2023), Uri Maklev, Ya'akov Tessler, Ya'akov Asher, Yisrael Eichler, Eliyahu Baruchi (replaced by Yitzhak Goldknopf on 15 June 2025)

## See also

[edit]

* Agudath Israel of America
* Hasidim and Mitnagdim
* World Agudath Israel
* Chardal

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Guide to Israel's political parties". BBC News. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
2. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (14 March 2015). "A guide to the political parties battling for Israel's future". The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
3. ^ "סוציאליזם חרדי". Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah. "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."
4. ^ "Housing Minister filmed dancing to anti-Zionist song". Israel National News. 23 March 2025.
5. ^ "Israel Election 2019: Nearly All Right-wing Parties Declare They Will Recommend Netanyahu to Form Coalition". Haaretz. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
6. ^ "יהדות התורה והשבת אגודת ישראל – דגל התורה". Central Election Committee for the Knesset (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2021-06-14.
7. ^ a b "Israel Political Parties: United Torah Judaism". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
8. ^ Kershner, Isabel (20 April 2019). "Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Parties Embrace Technology and Emerge Stronger". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
9. ^ Kaplan Sommer, Allison (8 December 2014). "Threats and backlash for ultra-Orthodox women seeking political voice". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
10. ^ Yahav, Telem (18 December 2012). "Haredi parties: Women have different role". Ynetnews. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
11. ^ Wagner, Matthew (9 February 2006). "Degel, Aguda on verge of reuniting". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
12. ^ a b Kahn, B.; Ariel, Y.; Zissman, A. (15 February 2006). "United Torah Jewry and Shabbos — Agudas Yisroel-Degel HaTorah Submits Joint Knesset List". Chairedi.org. Dei'ah VeDibur. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
13. ^ Ettinger, Yair (9 February 2006). "Deal over final make-up of UTJ list to go down to the wire". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
14. ^ Fendel, Hillel (23 March 2006). "Hareidi UTJ Party Hints: We Will Join Kadima Government". Israel National News. Retrieved 15 June 2015.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yahadut HaTora.

* United Torah Judaism Knesset website

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Political parties in Israel

Parliamentary|

* Likud
* Yesh Atid
* Shas
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* United Torah Judaism
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* List of political parties in Israel
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Orthodox Judaism

Branches|

* Haredi
* Hasidic
* Modern
* Open

People|

* Orthodox Jews
* Rabbis
* Hasidic dynasties

Education|

* Torah study
* Shiur
* Chavrusa
* Chavurah
* Yeshiva
* Mesivta
* Bais Yaakov
* Kollel
* Torah Umesorah
* Chinuch Atzmai
* Orthodox Jewish outreach

Politics|

* Shas
* United Torah Judaism (UTJ)
* Agudat Yisrael
* Degel HaTorah
* National Union (NU)
* The Jewish Home
* Noam (political party)
* Jerusalem Faction
* Sikrikim

Rabbinates|

* Rabbanut
* Edah HaChareidis
* Central Rabbinical Congress
* Iggud HaRabbonim
* Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
* Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah
* Rabbinical Council of America (RCA)
* Agudas HaRabbonim
* United Synagogue
* Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC)
* International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF)

Organizations|

* Agudath Israel of America
* Dirshu
* Mizrachi
* Orthodox Union
* World Agudath Israel
* Young Israel

Laws|

* Shulchan Aruch
* Mishnah Berurah
* Halakha
* Responsa

Philosophies|

* Orthodox feminism
* Torah Judaism
* Hasidism
* Religious Zionism
* Torah im Derech Eretz
* Torah Umadda
* Rabbinic authority / Da'as Torah
* Anarchism

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