United Torah Judaism

Eisenkot leads Netanyahu but deadlock looms, election polls show two days before Israelis vote

The average gap between the two major blocs stands at 4.5 seats, with neither reaching the 61-seat majority needed to form a government.

(L-R): Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Campaign posters against Shas head Aryeh Deri are seen in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem, August 31, 2026

Why Arye Deri's Shas is Israel’s haredi version of woke politics - opinion

(L-R): Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Eisenkot leads Netanyahu in four polls, but neither bloc secures Knesset majority - poll

AN ELECTION billboard featuring Gadi Eisenkot towers over campaign posters for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The battle for Israel: As Netanyahu rallies the Right, Eisenkot makes his move for power


Bismuth submits controversial haredi draft law outline in bid for Shas return to gov't

The outline of Bismuth’s draft lays out principles under which 50% of the haredi draft cohort will be enlisted within five years and the exemption age will be set at 26.

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish reserve soldiers of the IDF's Hasmonean Brigade operate in the Gaza Strip on June 26, 2025; Illustrative.

Knesset to vote on NIS 30 billion increase in defense budget, making cuts to other ministries

Israel’s 2025 budget vote will boost defense by NIS 30b, with haredi MKs set to abstain, leaving the tied coalition hoping the measure will still pass.

A plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, September 10, 2025.

Gafni urges Shas to open Sephardi schools, party responds amid renewed discrimination debate

Shas put out a letter thanking Gafni, thanking him for stressing the need for Shas to remain strong and independent, as no other party properly represents the Sephardic public.

MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset plenum, in Jerusalem, December 4, 2024

‘We want a draft law’: Bismuth leads first meeting on new conscription bill since Edelstein ousting

MK Boaz Bismuth opened the first meeting to discuss the haredi draft law since replacing MK Yuli Edelstein as Chairperson of the  Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

MK Boaz Bismuth at first meeting on new conscription bill since Edelstein ousting on August 12, 2025

Bismuth elected FADC head, ousting Edelstein over haredi draft bill

Edelstein, prior to the vote, published for the first time the draft of the conscription law, which was sent to committee members. 

MK Boaz Bismuth attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem July 8, 2025

Netanyahu must decide if he's a leader or follower as his government loses Israel's trust - opinion

Why then does Netanyahu choose to turn his back on the will of the majority, thereby eroding public trust in him and his government?

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a Knesset debate, July 14, 2025; illustrative.

Goldknopf: Haredim will leave Israel if 'there is no choice' in IDF enlistment

"The Haredim will not change their way of life because there is an army and a war. There is an army, and there are people who will join it," said Goldknopf.

 Yitzhak Goldknopf at the Knesset on March 3, 2025.

Netanyahu's Likud to remove Edelstein from key committee over haredi draft fallout

A replacement for Edelstein on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee may be willing to make concessions that Edelstein was not willing to make, thus allowing the bill to proceed.

 Benjamin Netanyahu and Yuli Edelstein seen at the Knesset on November 4, 2021

Yuli Edelstein stands on principle for crafting conscription law for haredi population - editorial

Yosef’s words reveal the ugly truth behind the ultra-Orthodox parties’ opposition to military service: Is it actually about Torah study or religious obligation?

 Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Yuli Edelstein speaks at the Muni Expo 2025 conference in Tel Aviv, on July 15, 2025.

'We failed, made a mistake' on judicial reform, haredi draft bill deal, UTJ's Goldknopf says

UTJ was told to support the judicial reform as it would allow for a "basic law of Torah study," and another law as an override clause, Yitzhak Goldknopf claimed in an interview with Kikar HaShabbat.

 Yitzhak Goldknopf at a United Torah Judaism meeting at the Knesset, Jerusalem, May 19, 2025.