From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Amid coalition standoff, Gafni and Deri sit down with Netanyahu
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam 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"
Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni and Shas chief Aryeh Deri are currently meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after declining to attend a sit-down with the premier and the heads of his coalition parties, the Ynet news site reports.
Degel HaTorah is part of the larger United Torah Judaism party. UTJ’s Agudat Yisrael faction does not appear to have sent a representative to the meeting.
Netanyahu had invited the leaders of the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox factions to sit with their coalition counterparts to discuss the ongoing fight over their demand for the expedited passage of a bundle of laws benefiting draft evaders and yeshiva students. Their refusal to attend the initial, larger meeting led to its cancellation.
A spokesman for Gafni told The Times of Israel earlier today that Degel HaTorah had declined to meet with Netanyahu and his coalition allies “because we are in the opposition and it was a meeting of the coalition leaders.”
Speaking with the Emess news site after the coalition meeting was canceled, a senior coalition figure declared that “we are advancing toward dissolving the Knesset next week.”
The Times of Israel Community.