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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 626

Yitzhak Goldknopf

View of Beit Shemesh on February 8, 2021. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
Inside Story
In Beit Shemesh, neighborhood after neighborhood turns Haredi, squeezing out others
By Zev Stub
Residents of the Neve Shamir neighborhood are up in arms over plans to turn what was initially intended to be a mixed community into an ultra-Orthodox one
The sparsely attended Knesset session amid conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem on June 16, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
June 16, 2025, 8:16 pm
Pared-down Knesset convenes in conference room for wartime session amid Iran strikes
In front of mostly empty seats, lawmakers table ‘nonessential’ discussions as plenum only debates legislation seen as urgent or important to war
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
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
Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with police during a protest against the military draft in Bnei Brak, November 17, 2024. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
May 29, 2025, 6:36 pm
Shas said to join threat to bolt coalition over failure to pass draft exemption bill
Rabbis of Sephardic ultra-Orthodox faction to convene after Shavuot to discuss issue, party officials say, amid similar ultimatum from Ashkenazi counterpart UTJ
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf arrives at a United Torah Judaism party meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on May 19, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
May 28, 2025, 10:06 pm
UTJ said upping threats to ditch coalition over failure to pass Haredi draft exemptions
Reports say party will weigh quitting or moving to dissolve Knesset if law isn’t passed after Shavuot; Shas reportedly trying to keep party in government
By ToI Staff
United Torah Judaism MKs hold a faction meeting in the Knesset, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 8, 2025, 9:50 am
‘The final deadline’: Could the IDF conscription crisis bring down Netanyahu’s government?
Without a bill shielding Haredim from the draft, the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties are weighing tactics from boycotting votes on coalition legislation to toppling the government
By Sam Sokol
View of Beit Shemesh on February 8, 2021. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
May 2, 2025, 10:49 am
In Beit Shemesh, neighborhood after neighborhood turns Haredi, squeezing out others
Residents of the Neve Shamir neighborhood are up in arms over plans to turn what was initially intended to be a mixed community into an ultra-Orthodox one
By Zev Stub
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 30, 2025, 11:34 am
After protests, ultra-Orthodox minister staying away from Memorial Day ceremony
Bereaved families express relief over decision, after telling Yitzhak Goldknopf to skip Kiryat Gat event and instead work on ‘recruiting yeshiva students’
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf speaks at a faction meeting for his ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party on March 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 29, 2025, 6:10 pm
Despite protest, Goldknopf refuses to step back from Memorial Day ceremony
Bereaved families tell Haredi politician to skip Kiryat Gat event, work on ‘recruiting yeshiva students’ instead; minister’s aides says ‘no negotiations underway’ to replace him
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf speaks at a faction meeting for his ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party on March 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 24, 2025, 9:42 pm
UTJ’s Goldknopf symbolically resigns minor role in PMO amid row over Haredi draft
Housing minister keeps his main portfolio but relinquishes 2nd job after outcry for his dancing to anti-Zionist song; he cites lack of progress on military exemption for yeshiva students
By Sam Sokol
Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf dances with other attendants at his nephew's wedding, March 23, 2025. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
March 24, 2025, 6:23 am
Haredi minister dances to anti-Zionist, anti-IDF song, draws bipartisan calls to fire him
Yitzchak Goldknopf filmed among crowd singing ‘We will die and not enlist [to the IDF]’; he apologizes after initially dismissing criticism as ‘incitement’; PM praises disavowal
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Posters for United Torah Judaism candidate Shmuel Greenberg defaced ahead of the 2024 municipal election in Beit Shemesh. (Sam Sokol)
March 20, 2025, 5:45 pm
PM, President Herzog, Haredi ministers condemn mob attack on Beit Shemesh mayor
‘We must denounce the extremists and the violent among us,’ says United Torah Judaism chairman Goldknopf in wake of assault on Degel Hatorah’s Shmuel Greenberg
By Sam Sokol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition lawmakers attend a vote on the 2025 state budget in the Knesset plenum, March 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 20, 2025, 1:55 pm
Clearing path for budget vote, MKs pass Economic Arrangements Law as Haredim back down
Ben Gvir’s return to the coalition defangs UTJ chief Yitzchak Goldknopf’s threat to scuttle 2025 state budget unless law exempting yeshiva students from IDF service is passed first
By Sam Sokol
Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg (in helmet) is rescued by police from a mob of ultra-Orthodox extremists, late March 19, 2025. (Screen capture X)
March 20, 2025, 5:02 am
Haredi extremists attack Beit Shemesh mayor and his family, overturn his car
Assailants injure Shmuel Greenberg’s 19-year-old son; video shows armored police rushing mayor from scene as mob shouting ‘Nazi’ chases him
By Sam Sokol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits with cabinet ministers in the Knesset plenum, March 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 12, 2025, 6:43 pm
Coalition to drive forward budget, judicial appointments bills in intense Knesset push
As the state budget March 31 deadline looms, justice minister aims to ram through key judicial overhaul reform, while Haredi MKs insist on a military service exemption law
By Jeremy Sharon
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