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Monday, August 10, 2026
Report: Degel HaTorah considering ousting veteran MKs Gafni and Maklev
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"
The Degel HaTorah party’s senior leadership is reportedly considering replacing chairman Moshe Gafni and veteran MK Uri Maklev ahead of the upcoming national election over their failure to legislate a draft exemption for yeshiva students.
Degel HaTorah is one of the two factions that comprise the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party.
According to the Haaretz daily, party spiritual leaders Rabbis Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch have been discussing the possibility and that, if the switch were made, MK Yaakov Asher would replace Gafni as chairman — a move that concerns some in Hirsch’s orbit because of Asher’s closeness to Lando.
Sources close to Gafni and Maklev deny the reports, telling Haaretz that “there are those who are trying to create tensions and disputes” ahead of the submission of the party list next month.
Spokespeople for Gafni and Rabbi Lando do not immediately respond to requests for comment, while a Haredi political source tells The Times of Israel that there are rumors about Gafni’s replacement nearly every election cycle.
The Times of Israel Community.