From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Chikli demands UTJ head be booted over claim resources being funneled to ultra-Orthodox
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli repeats his demand for the dismissal of Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, accusing him of harming the general public to benefit Haredi Jews.
Chikli says remarks from Goldknopf during a conference in Beit Shemesh last week that he was steering resources toward the ultra-Orthodox community at the expense of the general public constitute “malicious discrimination against the general public” for which he should be ousted.
According to financial daily The Marker, so far this year, the Israel Land Authority has only issued tenders for housing in Beit Shemesh aimed at the ultra-Orthodox market.
Responding to Chikli, Goldknopf says he will send his fellow ministers a detailed explanation of his policies and tweets that he “would like to apologize for the way I expressed myself in my speech last Wednesday.”
“To be clear, the Ministry of Construction and Housing operates in accordance with the law, and contrary to how vested interests sought to interpret my words – nothing was done in violation of the rules,” he writes, insisting that his ministry “works for the benefit of all communities in the State of Israel.”
Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev, also of UTJ, says that Goldknopf was engaged in “affirmative action” in a city “where the Haredi community was excluded,” the ultra-Orthodox news site Behadrei Haredim reports.
Chikli has been calling for Goldknopf’s ouster since Friday.
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