The two major Ashkenazi Haredi political factions, Degel Hatorah and Agudat Israel, sign an agreement to run together for Knesset once again, preserving a longstanding political alliance, dubbed United Torah Judaism, between the two sometimes-bickering parties.
Agudat Israel represents the Hasidic sects in Israel’s Haredi community, while Degel Hatorah represents the Lithuanian branch.
The two run separately in local elections, and October’s municipal races in Jerusalem and other towns saw bitter feuding between the factions.
According to the agreement signed a short time ago, Agudat Israel will take all odd-numbered seats on the Knesset slate and Degel Hatorah the even-numbered ones. The parties also agreed to try and ensure that Agudat Israel head Yaakov Litzman returns to the Health Ministry, where he currently serves as deputy minister, and Degel Hatorah chief Moshe Gafni chairs the Knesset Finance Committee in the next Knesset.
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
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