United Torah Judaism leaders meet in attempt to prevent split

Senior members of the two factions that make up the United Torah Judaism coalition party meet in an attempt to bridge recent differences and prevent a potential split before the upcoming Knesset elections.

Party chief Yaakov Litzman, who leads the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox Agudath Yisrael faction, meets MK Moshe Gafni, head of the Hasidic Degel Hatorah faction, and both agree to hold more meetings in the coming days, Degel Hatorah says.

Both factions have sparred recently, supporting rival candidates in the Jerusalem municipal elections as well as in other local races. There has been fear of a split that would significantly harm the factions’ chances of passing the election threshold of four Knesset seats and entering the next parliament.