United Torah Judaism

United Torah Judaism is the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox alliance of Agudat Yisrael (Hasidic) and Degel HaTorah (Lithuanian/non-Hasidic). It won 7 seats in 2022, then left Netanyahu's government in 2025 over the failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service. In September 2026 Degel HaTorah replaced long-time leader Moshe Gafni with Ya'akov Asher, who heads the joint list, with Agudat Yisrael chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf at no. 2.

United Torah Judaism (UTJ, Yahadut HaTorah) is the joint list of Israel's Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties: Agudat Yisrael, which represents most Hasidic courts (Gur, Vizhnitz, Belz, Shlomei Emunim, Sanz and others), and Degel HaTorah, which represents the non-Hasidic 'Lithuanian' yeshiva world. The two first ran together in 1992, split in 2004-2005 and have run jointly since 2006, alternating priority on the list. UTJ's core concerns are protecting full-time Torah study and the yeshiva-student exemption from military service, funding for Haredi education and institutions, and Sabbath and religious status-quo issues. It won 7 seats in 2022 and joined Netanyahu's government (Goldknopf as Housing Minister, Meir Porush as Jerusalem and Heritage Minister) before leaving it in July 2025 over the draft law. The 2026 list reflects a major shake-up. Degel HaTorah, under Rabbi Dov Landau, removed its veteran leader Moshe Gafni and MK Uri Maklev from realistic slots; Ya'akov Asher, close to Landau's household, now heads the joint list, with Gafni (120th) and Maklev (118th) in symbolic places. The new Degel line, associated with Landau aide David Shapira, promises no automatic loyalty to any bloc: a future coalition would have to meet Degel's demands on the draft. On the Agudah side, the Belz Rebbe replaced long-serving MK Yisrael Eichler with Eliakim Stark. Under the arrangement between the factions, Degel HaTorah has priority this time: Ynet reported a projected 6-4 Degel-Agudah split of the top ten (Degel: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10; Agudah: 2 Goldknopf/Gur, 4 Porush/Shlomei Emunim, 6 Stark/Belz, 8 Tessler/Vizhnitz). On the eve of the filing the Shlomei Emunim and Machzikei HaDat (Belz) factions also registered a separate technical party as leverage inside Agudat Yisrael, but their candidates signed onto the joint UTJ list, which was filed on 8 September 2026 under the name 'Yahadut HaTorah VeHaShabbat - Agudat Yisrael - Degel HaTorah' with the letter Gimel.

Made up of: Degel HaTorah, Agudat Yisrael

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