Top UTJ rabbi confirms Gafni, Maklev are standing down, says candidate list needed ‘refresh’

Rabbi Dov Lando, the leading rabbinic authority for the Degel Hatorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, confirms that veteran lawmakers Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev will not stand in the upcoming election.

Following media reports on the matter earlier tonight, Lando’s office publishes a statement confirming that the 96-year-old rabbi wrote to Gafni and Maklev this evening to inform them of this decision.

Lando “warmly thanked the men for their activity in recent years in total obedience with [religious leaders], and in particular in their fight for the position of yeshiva students” as exempt from the military draft, his office says.

“However, due to the need to refresh the Knesset members, the two will leave the Knesset in order to bring in new representatives,” the statement adds.

Earlier, Hebrew media outlets reported that the decision to oust Maklev and Gafni was a result of internal struggle over Degel HaTorah’s political direction and its relations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling government, particularly after UTJ failed to secure the passage of a law broadly exempting Haredi men from military service.