United Torah Judaism

Knesset Finance panel debates transfer of NIS 98 million to haredi schools

The High Court ordered last month that the Finance Committee reconvene and hold a fresh deliberation on the matter before voting to approve the transfer of the funds.

Finance Committee chair MK Hanoch Milwidsky leads a Finance committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, during the war with Iran and Hezbollah, March 15, 2026.
Security camera footage showing the impact near MK Moshe Gafni's Bnei Brak residence, April 4, 2026.

Iranian missile fragments damage MK Gafni's Bnei Brak house, none injured

Attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, in the Israeli parliament on September 30, 2025.

Opposition mistakenly approves millions to haredi institutions, A-G halts transfer

THE CHIEF RABBINATE’S Supreme Court for Appeals in Jerusalem: Israelis deserve a religious court system that honors both Halacha and human dignity, the writer asserts.

Knesset passes law expanding powers of Israel’s rabbinic courts to arbitrate civil matters


2026 budget reading puts government at risk, after months of ideological sparring - analysis

If the vote is postponed, or if the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties choose not to support it and it falls, then for all intents and purposes the government will fall with it.

A PLENUM session at the Knesset.

Netanyahu convenes emergency meeting as haredi parties threaten to block state budget vote

Both haredi parties have threatened to withhold support for the state budget unless agreements are reached on the draft law to avoid conscription.

 Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as lawmakers gather at the Knesset plenum to vote on a bill that would limit some Supreme Court power, in Jerusalem July 24, 2023.

Not just 'anyone but Bibi': Israel is in election mode, but where is the ideology? - editorial

Israel's political parties should run campaigns focused on offering real ideas and alternatives. That is how political movements grow and how politics regain substance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a 40 signatures debate, at the plenum hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on January 19, 2026.

Government submits 2026 budget to Knesset, Smotrich vows passage despite rifts

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the government was "determined to pass it [the state budget] on first reading,” during a press conference at the Knesset on Monday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich after a press conference at the ministry, December 4, 2025; illustrative.

Netanyahu to appoint UTJ’s Yisrael Eichler to gov’t role to pass contentious haredi draft bill

The move will reportedly allow Yitzhak Pindrus, from the Degel Hatorah faction, to return to the Knesset as well, after he had previously been pushed off the United Torah Judaism Party list.

MK Yisrael Eichler arrives for a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages regarding the Haredi draft exemption bill in Jerusalem, January 7, 2026.

IDF draft equality is minimum condition to restore Israeli solidarity - editorial

The Israel-Hamas War did not only take bodies; it took spirit. It took marriages, jobs, sleep, and the sense that someone competent is steering.

MK Boaz Bismuth seen with haredi MKs and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer in the Knesset, Jerusalem, January 14, 2026.

‘Maybe we’ll bomb them, maybe I’ll just dance’: Eretz Nehederet laughs at Trump’s Iran attack plan

As it seems possible that a US attack on Iran may lead to another Iranian attack on Israel, there’s very little any of us can do except stock up on groceries and try to laugh about it all.

OMER ETZION, acting as US President Donald Trump on Eretz Nehederet.

Ultra-Orthodox sages convene on haredi IDF draft bill, withhold official stance

The rabbis reportedly did not reach a decision on the matter; however, they allegedly decided internally to reject the sanctions imposed on draft evaders.

Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, head of the Gur hassidic dynasty,  seen after a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages regarding the haredi draft exemption bill in Jerusalem, January 7, 2026.

Millions transferred to haredi schools without Knesset approval, state admits to court

During the hearing, a state representative acknowledged that a significant portion of the funds had already been transferred prior to the Finance Committee discussion.

Opposition head Yair Lapid arrives for a court hearing at the Supreme Court on a petition against the transfer of funds to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, January 8, 2026

Beyond the bus: Addressing hate behind Eisenthal’s death in a Jerusalem riot - editorial

The driver, an Arab Israeli, reportedly called the police seeking assistance in getting out of the mob.

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protest at the Bar Ilan intersection in Jerusalem on November 6, 2016, following the arrest of a haredi draft-dodger.