Agudat Yisrael lawmakers submit resignations on orders of rabbinical council

By Sam Sokol 15 July 2025, 1:53 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush attends a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The secretariat of Agudat Yisrael’s ruling Council of Torah Sages sends a letter to the Hasidic faction’s lawmakers in the Knesset instructing them to “withdraw from the coalition and resign from their positions in the Knesset and the government.”

Following the letter, Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush submit letters of resignation, which will come into effect in 48 hours.

The Agudat Yisrael faction, along with Degel Hatorah, comprise the United Torah Judaism party. Both factions announced their exit from the coalition yesterday as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students.

In a statement on Monday evening, Porush explained that the decision to resign was made after viewing a new Haredi conscription bill presented by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which he asserted did not “satisfy the demands” of the faction and its spiritual leaders.