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Yitzhak Goldknopf

The leader of the Gur Hasidic dynasty joins thousands of ultra-Orthodox men at a protest outside an IDF Military Prison near Kfar Yona, central Israel, July 20, 2026. (Tal Gal/Flash90)
July 21, 2026, 3:29 am
25,000 Haredim protest at military prison over arrest of draft dodger; demo at AG’s home
In rare move, leader of Gur Hasidic dynasty attends rally at Beit Lid alongside UTJ party chief Yitzhak Goldknopf, who appeals for calm after breach of fence surrounding IDF base
By ToI Staff
Combat veterans suffering from PTSD react during a House Committee hearing on the so-called Torah Study bill, at the Knesset on July 9, 2026. Yitzhak Goldknopf is seated with back to camera. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 9, 2026, 9:17 pm
Haredi parties give a little ground: Basic Law won’t explicitly put Torah study on par with IDF service
Bill advances in 6-4 committee vote, with final Knesset readings slated for next week; combat veterans with PTSD interrupt hearing: ‘You’ve exploited us for political gain; rebel Likud MK: ‘Compromise’ is mere ‘window dressing’
By Ariela Karmel
MK Yitzhak Pindrus (left) attends a meeting of the Education, Culture and Sports Committee at the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); MK Naama Lazimi attends a court hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on petitions seeking to overturn the election of attorney Michael Rabello as State Comptroller, June 18, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 29, 2026, 3:55 pm
Haredi MK Pindrus says opposition lawmaker Lazimi should be shot in legs for protesting
Asked if he believes cops should fire at demonstrators who block roads, including his party chair, UTJ lawmaker says: ‘Sure, but start with Lazimi’; Democrats MK files police complaint
By Ethan Rubinson
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators block Route 1 near Jerusalem during a protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who failed to comply with military recruitment orders, June 24, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 25, 2026, 12:58 am
Haredi convoys spark clashes, traffic chaos; most protesters fail to reach IDF prison
Police assess 1,000 cars joined anti-draft demonstration; video shows some members of public reacting violently to protesters; pregnant woman reportedly hurt in car accident caused by convoy
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
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) in the Knesset on November 24, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/File)
May 6, 2026, 7:03 pm
PM said to ask Haredim to again shelve draft exemption bill — this time until after election
Senior ultra-Orthodox MK denies report while another suggests it’s true, claiming Netanyahu lied about ever having any intention to pass law exempting yeshiva students from IDF service
By Sam Sokol and Emanuel Fabian
Illustrative: Men arguing in Beit Shemesh, October 2013. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash 90)
May 1, 2026, 5:59 am
Separate cities or shared space? Ministries at odds over huge Negev housing plan for Haredim
As the ultra-Orthodox population surges, plans for three major new cities in the south highlight a growing divide over integration, economics and the future of Haredi life
By Zev Stub
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with army recruitment orders in the Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem, October 22, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 26, 2026, 6:35 pm
High Court orders government to impose financial sanctions on Haredi draft evaders
In unanimous decision, court says government has failed to implement previous rulings, calls police refusal to arrest ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers an ‘unacceptable mass violation of law’
By Jeremy Sharon
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri (center-right) chairs a faction meeting in Knesset, December 8, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 4, 2026, 8:03 pm
Shas vows to oppose 2026 budget unless coalition passes Haredi draft exemption bill
Deputy AG assails government for ignoring High Court order on sanctions for draft dodgers; Goldknopf compares penalties for yeshiva students to ‘yellow star’
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the conscription of yeshiva students in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, October 19, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
October 22, 2025, 6:16 pm
‘War on Torah students’: Haredi MKs condemn ‘despicable arrests’ of draft dodgers
Hardline Jerusalem faction reports recent ‘wave of arrests’; MK Goldknopf claims yeshiva students ‘have been made into criminals solely because they study Torah’
By Sam Sokol
UTJ MK Yitzchak Goldknopf seen during a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 5, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
October 6, 2025, 12:01 pm
Haredi MK panned for seeming to liken detained draft dodgers to Gaza hostages
In letter to PM, Goldknopf hails Trump proposal, urges freeing yeshiva students; Lapid slams ‘spoiled brats who think they have the right to dodge the draft while the IDF fights’
By Sam Sokol
Tourism Minister Haim Katz attends a Knesset Finance Committee meeting, December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
September 14, 2025, 6:29 pm
Likud’s Haim Katz okayed as permanent housing minister to replace UTJ’s Goldknopf
Appointment may be sign that Netanyahu does not expect to solve dispute over Haredi enlistment and bring UTJ back into coalition; Katz currently helms four ministries
By Sam Sokol
Orthodox Jews pray at the gravestone of Rabbi Nachman, the great grandson of the founder of Hasidic movement, to mark the Jewish new year in the town of Uman, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
August 26, 2025, 1:56 am
Haredi lawmakers pressing PM to allow draft dodgers to fly abroad for High Holidays
Deri aims to lift travel ban on draft evaders so they can make annual Ukraine pilgrimage; Goldknopf wants them to be able to visit NY, calling trips a ‘sublime spiritual experience’
By Rossella Tercatin and ToI Staff
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth (left) and United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf (right) attend a meeting of the Knesset House Committee, August 4, 2025. (Dani Shem-Tov/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
August 4, 2025, 9:07 pm
MK Bismuth elected to head key defense panel, push through Haredi draft exemption law
Knesset lawmakers oust Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein, who calls his dismissal ‘the final nail in the coffin of the conscription law’
By Sam Sokol
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 24, 2025, 9:08 pm
Ultra-Orthodox willing to ‘leave the country’ over conscription issue, says Goldknopf
Adviser to United Torah Judaism leader tells ToI that party will return to government as soon as bill exempting Haredim from military service is passed into law
By Sam Sokol
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