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Agudat Yisrael

2 arrested in Bnei Brak amid rioting at building housing ultra-Orthodox IDF program
Police face off against ultra-Orthodox protesters outside an office building housing an IDF program in Bnei Brak, October 14, 2026. (Israel Police)
By Noam Lehmann
Protesters storm office building where Kodcode cyber training unit for Haredi servicemembers is located; no injuries reported
L-R, front: MKs Yitzhak Goldknopf (L), Moshe Gafni and Yinon Azulai in the Knesset, January 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 16, 2026, 7:00 pm
Haredi Knesset boycott continues, putting coalition’s legislative blitz at risk
Bills pulled from plenum agenda for second day in a row as Haredim demand return of daycare subsidies for draft evaders; we ‘will not accept any delay,’ says Degel HaTorah
By Sam Sokol
MK Moshe Gafni attends a finance committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, April 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 27, 2026, 7:26 pm
Following draft evader arrests, Gafni calls on Haredim to halt cooperation with police
Degel HaTorah chair urges local representatives not to ‘become complicit in harming the holy Torah.’ MKs advance bill restoring daycare subsidies for the children of draft dodgers
By Sam Sokol
Degel HaTorah MKs meet with the spiritual leader of the Knesset faction, Rabbi Dov Lando, in his home in the central Israel city of Bnei Brak, May 12, 2026. (Courtesy Rabbi Dov Lando)
May 12, 2026, 9:54 pm
Haredi factions push to dissolve Knesset, increasing likelihood of slightly earlier elections
Degel HaTorah spiritual chief says it has ‘lost trust’ in PM over failure to pass army exemption bill; move would need support of Shas to succeed; opposition hopes to begin process Wednesday
By Sam Sokol and Ariela Karmel
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotirch and United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni attend a Knesset budget debate, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)
March 9, 2026, 9:09 pm
Haredi parties likely to vote for 2026 state budget despite lack of exemption law
Shas and Degel HaTorah expected to vote in favor of budget while Agudat Yisrael will oppose it. Bill regulating Haredi conscription will not pass before the Knesset recess
By Sam Sokol
MK Boaz Bismuth chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, January 15, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 21, 2026, 6:35 pm
Haredi draft exemption marching ahead, but contentious bill still faces uphill battle
With rebel MKs possibly withholding support, legislation is set to advance out of committee but may be slow to face Knesset vote, putting ultra-Orthodox parties in a bind over budget
By Sam Sokol
Agudat Yisrael head Yitzhak Goldknopf arrives for a meeting being held by the faction's rabbinic leadership on the Haredi draft exemption bill, in Jerusalem on January 7, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 8, 2026, 1:27 pm
Haredi rabbis end key meeting on IDF conscription bill without issuing decision
Agudat Yisrael lawmakers also in dark after assembly breaks up without public statement; sources tell media rabbis will allow legislation to advance
By ToI Staff
Rabbi Dov Lando in Bnei Brak, August 21, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
November 19, 2025, 1:25 pm
UTJ’s Degel HaTorah faction says it supports latest version of draft exemption bill, for now
Party’s rabbinic leaders insist that yeshiva students be allowed to ‘continue to study,’ says spokesman for Rabbi Lando; Religious Zionism party demands a law that ‘enlists Haredim’
By Sam Sokol
MK Meir Porush sits in a protest tent outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem, August 12, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
August 14, 2025, 6:31 pm
Senior Haredi MK: The government ‘started a war with us, and we have to defend ourselves’
Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Meir Porush rules out violence in his community’s struggle against military service, insists he’ll accept nothing less than exemptions for all yeshiva students
By Sam Sokol
MK Meir Porush sits in front of a banner reading "Office of MK Meir Porush" as he demonstrates outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 10, 2025, 7:39 pm
Haredi MK Porush warns conscription of yeshiva students could lead to ‘civil war’
Former cabinet minister sets up tent outside Justice Ministry to protest arrests of draft evaders. Liberman calls on ultra-Orthodox to ‘join the effort to defeat the enemy’
By Sam Sokol
Members of the United Torah Judaism party's Degel Hatorah faction write letters of resignation in Knesset Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni's office, July 14, 2025. (Courtesy)
July 15, 2025, 2:37 am
United Torah Judaism quits gov’t to protest new proposal on army enlistment exemptions
Haredi party’s Degel Hatorah faction claims coalition ‘repeatedly violated commitments to care for status of yeshiva students’; Edelstein said refusing further concessions on bill
By Sam Sokol
Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri speak in the Knesset, December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 13, 2025, 5:29 am
Why did the Haredim agree to an enlistment plan containing sanctions?
Shas, Degel Hatorah chose to support new outline containing scaled back sanctions in an effort to ‘buy time’ in the face of a pending wave of IDF conscription orders, say experts
By Sam Sokol
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a faction meeting in the Knesset, May 19 , 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
June 12, 2025, 5:21 pm
UTJ’s Goldknopf resigns from cabinet after Knesset fails to pass dissolution bill
Chairman of ultra-Orthodox party says enlistment compromise fails to live up to PM’s promises, says he can ‘no longer take part as a member of this government’
By Sam Sokol
UTJ lawmakers Ya'akov Tessler and Moshe Gafni attend a vote on the proposal to dissolve the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 12, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 12, 2025, 12:36 pm
After compromise, Haredi parties back off threat to dissolve Knesset and trigger elections
Opposition goes ahead with doomed vote in bid to strip leverage from Shas and UTJ, who had warned they would support toppling of government unless it backed friendly IDF draft bill
By Sam Sokol and Stuart Winer
Knesset member Aryeh Deri looks at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a vote on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
June 11, 2025, 5:51 pm
Coalition scrambles for deal with Haredim ahead of preliminary vote to dissolve Knesset
Shas said to be pressuring Degel Hatorah to give Netanyahu more time; no agreement has been reached yet, says Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik
By Sam Sokol
United Torah Judaism MKs confer in the Knesset plenum, December 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
June 4, 2025, 2:59 pm
Elections may loom as senior rabbis tell Haredi UTJ party to bolt coalition
Party’s spiritual leaders, fed up with failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from conscription, reportedly refusing to speak with Netanyahu; UTJ would need Shas’s support to bring down government
By Sam Sokol
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