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Party Matcher

Agudat Yisrael

United Torah Judaism – Agudat Yisrael – Degel HaTorah
Leader
Yitzhak Goldknopf
List
United Torah Judaism – Agudat Yisrael – Degel HaTorah
Researched as of
October 6, 2026

Running on a joint list with Chomat Torat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah as United Torah Judaism – Agudat Yisrael – Degel HaTorah.

Overview

What the party is. Agudat Yisrael (registered name: הסתדרות אגודת ישראל בארץ ישראל) is a Haredi party. The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) describes it as founded in 1912 in Poland as a political vehicle to preserve the Haredi way of life against modernity and Zionism. After the Second World War its center moved to the Land of Israel and it cooperated in part with the national institutions: its members sat in the People's Council and the Provisional State Council of 1948, and it had a minister in Israel's first governments until 1952 [20]. In 1988 Rabbi Elazar Shach founded the Lithuanian Haredi party Degel HaTorah after a rift with Agudat Yisrael [78]. Today Agudat Yisrael represents the Hasidic Haredi public [16].

How it is run. The party's highest authority is its Council of Torah Sages (מועצת גדולי התורה), a body of senior rabbis and Hasidic rebbes. Party representatives say they act on its instructions in Knesset votes and coalition decisions [39, 42, 65]. Its internal factions are organized around Hasidic courts. The largest is the "Central Faction" of the Gur court; others have included Sanz and Biala [51, 2, 54]. In 2022 the Gur Rebbe chose Yitzhak Goldknopf to replace Yaakov Litzman as the Central Faction's representative [27]. In April 2026 Goldknopf was described as party chairman, with Rabbi Yosef Kupperberg as chair of the movement and Bnei Brak mayor Hanoch Zeibert as secretary-general [54].

Ideology and base. The party's core aims are protecting full-time Torah study, especially keeping yeshiva students out of compulsory military service, funding and independence for Haredi education, Shabbat observance in public life, and the religious "status quo" (see the issue sections below) [27, 32, 42, 56]. Its base is the Hasidic Haredi public [16].

Current seats. Agudat Yisrael does not run alone. It runs as part of United Torah Judaism (UTJ), which won 7 of the 120 seats in the November 2022 election [74]. During the 25th Knesset, Agudat Yisrael's representatives were Goldknopf, Meir Porush, Yaakov Tessler and Yisrael Eichler, with Moshe Roth serving while others held government posts [44, 71, 74]. As of October 2026 the seven sitting UTJ MKs are Moshe Gafni, Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher, Yitzhak Pindrus (Degel HaTorah), and Goldknopf, Tessler and Porush (elected for Agudat Yisrael) [74]. Eichler left the Knesset in January 2026 to become Deputy Communications Minister [74, 71]. Porush is now running for a different party on the same joint list (see below) [5, 52].

The list it runs on. For the October 27, 2026 election Agudat Yisrael is one of three parties that filed the joint list "United Torah Judaism and Shabbat – Agudat Yisrael – Degel HaTorah" (יהדות התורה והשבת אגודת ישראל – דגל התורה), ballot letter ג [1, 3]. Its partners are:

  • Degel HaTorah, the Lithuanian Haredi party, whose candidate Yaakov Asher heads the list [1].
  • Chomat Torat Yisrael, a party announced on September 8, 2026 by Meir Porush (Shlomei Emunim faction) and Eliyakim Stark (representing the Belz Hasidic court). It was set up using an existing registered "shelf" party that was renamed. Until then both men were inside Agudat Yisrael [5, 52].

History of splits (joint list). Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah have run together as UTJ in every Knesset election since 1992 [79, 78]. Knesset faction records show that their joint Knesset faction has nevertheless been formally divided into separate Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah factions ten times [80, 87]:

  • on April 8, 1996, February 23, 1999, December 18, 2008, January 9, 2019, July 10, 2019, December 30, 2019, December 28, 2020 and August 15, 2022, each shortly before an election;
  • on January 12, 2005, in the middle of the 16th Knesset; the parties ran together again in 2006;
  • on July 16, 2026, when the Knesset House Committee approved UTJ's request to split, ahead of the 2026 election [87, 10].

After each split through 2022, a joint UTJ faction was formed again in the next Knesset [80, 87]. In 2019 and 2020 the parties called the split a procedural step, mainly to divide election funding [75, 76]. In July 2026 Degel HaTorah MK Uri Maklev described that split as "technical" and said the parties were "not divorcing" [10].

The most significant recent break happened inside Agudat Yisrael itself. On the night of September 7, 2026, a party council meeting called to approve the list and the joint-run agreement with Degel HaTorah broke up without a formal vote. The dispute was over the fifth place on Agudat's internal list: Gur representatives pushed to replace former MK Moshe Shimon Roth (Sanz Hasidim) with a candidate from the Biala court, and Porush objected [2, 51]. On September 8, 2026 Porush and Stark announced that they would run under a separate party, Chomat Torat Yisrael, inside the UTJ list. Reports said the move gave their communities control of their own share of party funding and their own seat in coalition talks [5, 6, 52]. On September 10, 2026 Zeibert informed Porush and Stark that their Agudat Yisrael membership had ended under party rules barring membership in another party [4]. On the CEC filing, Porush (#4) and Stark (#6) appear on behalf of Chomat Torat Yisrael, and Goldknopf (#2) on behalf of Agudat Yisrael [1].

Polling

Polling average: 6% (as of October 2, 2026). Source: Mean of 5 polls published 2026-09-28 to 2026-10-02

Polls included in the average
  • Lazar Research (led by Dr. Menachem Lazar) · Maariv · 2026-09-30–10-01 · 602 respondents · margin of error ±4.0% · published Oct 2, 2026
  • Next Data · Channel 14 (Arutz Achshav 14) · 2026-10-01 · 2145 respondents · margin of error ±2.1% · published Oct 1, 2026
  • Direct Polls (led by Tzuriel Sharon) · i24NEWS (Middle East News 24 Ltd.) · 2026-10-01 · 504 respondents · margin of error ±4.3% · published Oct 1, 2026
  • Maagar Mochot (led by Prof. Yitzhak Katz) · Channel 16 · 2026-09-29 · 550 respondents · margin of error ±4.2% · published Sep 29, 2026
  • Next Data · Channel 14 (Arutz Achshav 14) · 2026-09-28 · 573 respondents · margin of error ±4.1% · published Sep 28, 2026

Leadership and key candidates

Yitzhak Goldknopf (list #2; party chairman). In July 2022 he said he was approaching 72 and had worked in education for more than 50 years, including running Gur and other Haredi Talmud Torah schools [27]. His father, who came to the Land of Israel in 1939 on the advice of the Gur Rebbe, founded the "Beit Yaakov" kindergarten and daycare network. Goldknopf said he ran it from 1989 "until recently" (as of November 2022). He also founded the Petachya network for children with disabilities, which serves about 1,200 children [56, 27]. He was long known as secretary of the Rabbis' Committee for the Sanctity of Shabbat [27]. He entered the Knesset in November 2022 [74, 53]. From December 29, 2022 he served as Minister of Housing and Construction and as a minister in the Prime Minister's Office. He left the Knesset in January 2023 under the "Norwegian law", which lets ministers resign their seats so the next candidate can enter [53]. He announced his resignation from the Prime Minister's Office role on March 24, 2025 and from the housing ministry on June 12, 2025, both in protest over the lack of a law exempting yeshiva students from service. Knesset records show the posts ending on March 26 and June 15, 2025, when he returned to the Knesset [8, 7, 53]. In June 2026 the Knesset elected him as its representative on the committee that appoints rabbinical-court judges (dayanim) [72].

Yoel Yaakov Tessler (list #8). An MK since April 2019, sitting in the separate Agudat Yisrael faction whenever the UTJ faction was split [84]. He served as Deputy Minister of Culture and Sport from January 2023 to July 2025 and returned to the Knesset in July 2025 after UTJ left the government [84, 74, 1]. In September 2026, Channel 12 reported (as relayed by the Times of Israel) that he and Goldknopf were considering abstaining in a confidence vote on a government led by Gadi Eisenkot [21].

Moshe Shimon Roth (list #11). Representative of the Sanz Hasidic court. He was an MK from January 2023 to July 2025, entering when Porush took up a ministerial post [74, 51]. Gur's attempt to move him off the fifth place on Agudat's internal list triggered the September 2026 council crisis [2, 51].

Other Agudat Yisrael candidates on the CEC list (further down the list): Yosef Baham (#15), Yossi Deitsch (#17), Yehiel Aryeh Weingarten (#19), Peretz Abramovich (#21), Chaim Meir Katz (#23), Ephraim Weber (#25) and Avraham Tzvi Rushgold (#27) [1].

The joint list's top places (for context): 1. Yaakov Asher (Degel HaTorah), 2. Yitzhak Goldknopf (Agudat Yisrael), 3. Yitzhak Pindrus (Degel HaTorah), 4. Meir Porush (Chomat Torat Yisrael), 5. Moshe Rosenthal (Degel HaTorah), 6. Eliyakim Stark (Chomat Torat Yisrael) [1].

Former Agudat Yisrael figures now outside the party. Meir Porush was Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage from January 2023 to July 2025 [74, 26]. Yisrael Eichler (Belz) was appointed Deputy Communications Minister in January 2026 [71, 74]. In September 2026 the Belz Rebbe decided that Eliyakim Stark would replace Eichler as Belz's Knesset representative [50]. Both Belz and Shlomei Emunim now run under Chomat Torat Yisrael [52].

Positions on the issues

Note on evidence. Until September 2026 Agudat Yisrael's Knesset representatives included Meir Porush and Yisrael Eichler, whose communities now run under Chomat Torat Yisrael [5, 50, 52]. Where their votes or statements are cited below, the text says so. They show how the Agudat Yisrael faction acted at the time, but the same items also appear in the Chomat Torat Yisrael document as its leader's record, so they should not be counted twice. Wherever possible the lines below rest on the party's current candidates, Goldknopf and Tessler.

Cost of living

Agudat Yisrael has no published platform on prices. Its record comes from the coalition agreement it signed and from statements by its leader.

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The December 28, 2022 coalition agreement between Likud and UTJ (signed for "United Torah Judaism and Shabbat Agudat Yisrael – Degel HaTorah") commits the government to several measures [32]:
    • in 2023, to freeze electricity and water prices and local property taxes (arnona), and to consider freezing fuel prices and the prices of supervised products (clause 21);
    • to cancel the taxes on disposable tableware and sweetened drinks (clauses 23, 87);
    • to adopt European standards so that imported goods approved in Europe can enter more easily (clause 24);
    • to carry out structural reforms to lower the cost of living and the regulatory burden, including cutting red tape, more competition and less concentration in the food market (clause 28);
    • to budget NIS 1 billion a year for food-purchase cards for needy families (clause 82).
  • Action (delivery): In early January 2023 the new government cancelled the taxes on sweetened drinks and disposable tableware [70].
  • Action (vote): On March 11, 2024 the Knesset approved, 47–29, the order raising VAT from 17% to 18% from January 2025. Agudat Yisrael's Eichler and Tessler voted for it; UTJ was then part of the coalition [85].
  • Statement: In July 2022 Goldknopf said that, after checking opinion in his community, he would focus on the cost of living: "We must fight to bring down the cost of living." He also called for state funding of rent for Haredi kindergartens and equal funding for Haredi education [27]. In October 2022 he called the sweetened-drinks tax "another reason for the cost of living" and promised to cancel it [55].

The evidence points to a mix of direct help for low-income families (food vouchers), lower consumption taxes, and some state price freezes and pro-import measures. These commitments were signed by UTJ as a whole. There is no separate Agudat Yisrael economic program.

Closest option(s): direct help for households (direct-support-for-households), with elements of cutting taxes (cut-taxes-and-government-spending); the evidence is mixed and comes mainly from a coalition agreement rather than a party program.

Crime in Arab society

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The 2022 Likud–UTJ agreement states that the government sees crime and violence in Arab society as "a central matter to be handled at the top of the order of priorities", for the personal security of Arab citizens and of all citizens. It commits the government to "allocate resources and tools for enforcement and eradicating crime and illegal activity" in Arab society (clause 32, repeated in clause 124) [32].

No statement by Agudat Yisrael or its leaders on this issue was found, including on proposals to bring the Shin Bet into the fight against crime organizations. Searches covered Hebrew Haredi news coverage of the party and its leaders, the party's coalition agreement, and the Times of Israel topic pages on UTJ and Agudat Yisrael.

Closest option(s): the only evidence (a general coalition commitment to enforcement resources) fits more police resources under normal law (more-police-resources-normal-law), but it is thin and not specific to this party.

Gaza Strip policy

  • Statement: On January 28, 2024, while serving as housing minister, Goldknopf spoke at a conference of coalition figures calling for renewed Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. He said: "Giving up parts of the Land of Israel not only does not bring security, it directly causes the bloodshed of Jews. I will support the Government of Israel in correcting the terrible injustice and returning to Gush Katif and the Gaza region." Gush Katif was the bloc of Israeli settlements in Gaza evacuated in 2005 [28].
  • Statement: In October 2022 Goldknopf visited the Gush Katif museum in Jerusalem. He said he was shocked by the 2005 evacuation and wrote that "no part of the State of Israel should be missing from Jewish rule" [36].
  • Action (in government): When the government approved the hostage-release and ceasefire agreement in a session that began on January 17, 2025, Goldknopf, then housing minister, left a written vote in favour: "I support the hostage release deal that comes to the government today… there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives." Porush, then a minister for Agudat Yisrael, also left a written vote in favour; his office said he did so after hearing the position of the members of the Council of Torah Sages [90].
  • Statement: In July 2025 Meir Porush, then an Agudat Yisrael MK, said he keeps a record of the Council of Torah Sages' positions on major decisions, including "two hostage deals". He did not say how the council ruled [39].

No statement by the party on the current ceasefire, the US plan, disarming Hamas or an international force was found.

Closest option(s): tentative and mixed. The leader's 2022 and 2024 statements on returning to settle Gaza are closest to allowing Israeli communities to be rebuilt there (resume-fighting-full-control), but in January 2025 he and the party's other minister voted in the government for the hostage and ceasefire deal. No party decision, vote or statement on the post-ceasefire choices was found, so this line rests on indirect evidence.

Haredi military enlistment

This is the party's central issue, and the evidence is extensive.

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): Clause 90 of the 2022 Likud–UTJ agreement required two things to be completed before the 2023 budget passed. One was a Basic Law: Torah Study, declaring Torah study a basic value. The other was an amendment to the Security Service Law "to regulate the status of yeshiva students". UTJ added that this issue "touches its soul" and should have been settled before the government was formed [32, 44].
  • Action (votes and resignations): In December 2024 Agudat Yisrael MKs announced they would vote against a coalition tax bill because the status of Torah students had not been settled [45]. In the December 31, 2024 vote on the Economic Efficiency Law (taxation of undistributed profits), which passed 59–58, Tessler voted against and Eichler was present and did not vote [85]. In March 2025 Goldknopf, Tessler and Roth wrote to the prime minister that, "in accordance with the instructions of our rabbis", they would oppose the 2025 budget until the status of yeshiva students was finally settled [44]. Goldknopf resigned as housing minister on June 12, 2025, writing that the compromises reached did not match Netanyahu's promises in the coalition agreement [7, 18]. On July 14, 2025 Agudat Yisrael's Council of Torah Sages instructed the party's representatives to resign all their coalition posts. In a letter published on July 15 it wrote that it was "no longer fitting to sit in a government that lends a hand to persecuting the Torah world and breaking agreements" [41, 42, 26]. Knesset records show the government posts of Porush and Tessler ending on July 17, 2025 [74]. On January 28, 2026 all three Agudat Yisrael MKs (Goldknopf, Tessler and Porush) voted against the 2026 budget in its first reading, which passed 62–55 [85]. Goldknopf said the Council of Torah Sages had told them to oppose it as long as the status of Torah students was not settled "without sanctions and without quotas" [13, 65].
  • Formal commitment (Council of Torah Sages): In January 2026 the council republished a 2019 decision. It says the status of full-time Torah students must be settled "without personal and institutional sanctions and without arrests, as was customary all the years", and that any law setting sanctions or targets "is not acceptable and must be opposed with full force" [60]. In July 2025 a conference of Haredi rabbis (not a party body), led by the rebbes of Gur, Vizhnitz, Sanz and others, declared that "no sanctions, decrees, punishments or arrests" would move them and that no one has the right to set quotas or targets for yeshiva students [40].
  • Action (rejecting the compromise bill): In November 2025 Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Boaz Bismuth presented a bill. It kept deferments for full-time yeshiva students but set enlistment targets and sanctions, such as travel bans and loss of benefits, for those not studying [15]. Goldknopf stated: "Agudat Yisrael will not support any bill that includes sanctions or any harm to the status and rights of Torah students as practiced until today" [16, 49]. In March 2026 the Israel Democracy Institute noted that Agudat Yisrael's MKs opposed the bill "from the other side" from its critics, because they wanted the arrangement for full-time Torah students to stay voluntary and comprehensive as before [14].
  • Action (law to stop arrests): On July 14, 2026 the Knesset passed, 58–54, a temporary law freezing arrests of full-time yeshiva students until November 30, 2026 [46]. Goldknopf and Tessler voted for it, as did Porush, then still an Agudat Yisrael MK [85]. Porush welcomed the law and said any High Court decision on it would have no legal force [46]. The High Court of Justice froze the law the next day, and on September 3, 2026 a nine-justice panel struck it down unanimously [24, 88].
  • Statement: In May 2026 Goldknopf said Netanyahu "has not, and never had, any intention of honoring the coalition agreement", after reports that the prime minister asked to shelve the exemption bill until after the election [17].
  • Statement: In a July 2025 interview with Makor Rishon, Goldknopf said: "If there is no choice and they have to leave the country, they will leave the country. There will be a state without Haredim. The Haredim will not change their way of life because there is an army and a war" [19]. In October 2026 he called an attempted night arrest of a yeshiva student "a mark of shame for a Jewish state" and blamed the prime minister [64].

Closest option(s): pass a law letting full-time yeshiva students keep studying with no criminal or financial penalties (anchor-torah-study-exemption).

Housing

Most of the evidence comes from Goldknopf's term as Minister of Housing and Construction (December 2022 – June 2025).

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The 2022 agreement makes the housing crisis a top priority. It commits to a reform to shorten planning and construction procedures, to remove barriers and encourage local authorities to build, and to fund infrastructure linked to new housing (clauses 60–63) [32].

  • Action (in government): An Israel Democracy Institute study, reported in February 2026, found the following under "Target Price" (Mechir Matara), the subsidized program for first-time buyers:

    • under previous governments, 5–14% of the homes were in Haredi areas;
    • in the first lotteries under Goldknopf, the share was 26%, 38% and about 46% (in Haredi neighborhoods of Beit Shemesh), and then 17%;
    • Haredim make up about 13% of the population.

    Goldknopf's office answered that a State Comptroller report had shown a long-standing gap (only about 4% of apartments marketed to the Haredi public for years) and that he had acted to "correct this historical injustice" [29].

  • Statement: At a conference in Beit Shemesh in 2025, Goldknopf said: "Even what people thought would be for the general public, we took out in some way for the Haredi public. Not everything can be talked about" [29].

  • Statement: As UTJ chairman, Goldknopf champions three planned Haredi cities in the Negev: Kasif, Plugot and Tila. The Finance Ministry opposes them, and in February 2026 the government ordered a review that in effect paused planning [30].

  • Action (in government, settlements): In May 2025, as minister, he agreed with the Kiryat Arba council on steps to build new neighborhoods there [38] (see also Judea and Samaria).

  • Statement: In his maiden Knesset speech (November 2022) Goldknopf said he had met young couples for whom "affordable housing" had become "meaningless words" [56].

Closest option(s): direct help for buyers through discounted-price apartment programs (direct-help-for-buyers), together with building more through faster planning (speed-up-planning-and-construction).

Iran, Hezbollah and the region

No documented position found. No statement, party decision or recorded vote by Agudat Yisrael or Goldknopf on the war with Iran, Hezbollah, southern Lebanon or regional agreements was found. Sources checked: the Times of Israel topic pages for Goldknopf, UTJ and Agudat Yisrael; JDN (a Haredi news site) tag pages on Goldknopf, Agudat Yisrael and Iran; and the 2022 coalition agreement. The agreement's foreign-policy clauses (deepening the Abraham Accords, pursuing more peace agreements, clauses 34–36) were signed by UTJ, but they predate the current conflict [32].

Judea and Samaria

  • Formal commitment (coalition negotiations): In November 2022 Goldknopf, at the request of Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, added to UTJ's coalition demands the plan to establish Evyatar, a settlement whose families had left the site under a 2021 arrangement with the previous government [37].
  • Action (Knesset motion): On July 23, 2025 the Knesset approved, 71–13, a non-binding motion calling for applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria [83]. Meir Porush, then an Agudat Yisrael MK, said the party's Council of Torah Sages had set the party's position in "the vote this week on applying sovereignty". JDN reported that the party's support was the council's decision [39]. The Knesset record shows all four Agudat Yisrael MKs who then sat in the Knesset (Goldknopf, Tessler, Eichler and Porush) voting for the motion [86].
  • Action (sovereignty bills): On October 22, 2025, after the party had left the coalition, Goldknopf, Tessler, Eichler and Porush voted for a bill to apply Israeli law and sovereignty to "the areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria", which passed its preliminary reading 25–24 [86, 89]. A senior adviser to Goldknopf said the Agudat Yisrael faction backed it "to highlight the hypocrisy" of the government [89]. The same day Goldknopf and Tessler voted for a bill to apply sovereignty to Ma'ale Adumim, which passed 31–9 [86]. Earlier, while UTJ was in the coalition, Agudat Yisrael's MKs had voted against an opposition bill to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, on March 15, 2023 (failed 14–66) and January 22, 2025 (failed 32–56). On December 31, 2025 Goldknopf voted against a bill to apply sovereignty to Beitar Illit (failed 8–45) [86]. The record does not give reasons for votes.
  • Contradiction: In July 2025 the party's Council of Torah Sages set its position for the sovereignty motion, and its MKs voted for the motion and, in October 2025, for two sovereignty bills [39, 86]. Yet on December 31, 2025 Goldknopf voted against a bill to apply sovereignty to Beitar Illit [86]. The party was outside the coalition at the time, so this was not a coalition-line vote. No explanation by the party was found.
  • Change over time: Earlier in the same Knesset, in March 2023 and January 2025, the party's MKs had voted against sovereignty over the Jordan Valley [86]. Those were opposition bills voted on while UTJ was in the coalition, before the party's July 2025 position, and the party voted with the coalition. Before the 2023 vote the Ministerial Committee for Legislation had decided that the coalition would not support the bill and put off its decision by six months; replying for the government, Minister Orit Strock (Religious Zionism) called it a "trolling bill" and said "the whole coalition supports sovereignty" [92].
  • Action (as minister): On May 5, 2025 Goldknopf visited Kiryat Arba and Hebron. He said: "We agreed on practical steps to advance construction and establish new neighborhoods in Kiryat Arba… We will act to expand settlement and strengthen our hold on the land." He also reported an agreement with the Defense Ministry to expand land-protection enforcement [38].
  • Statement: In October 2022 he said UTJ "will stand at the right hand of the settlements" and that he would act against Arab construction in Area C [36].

The evidence supports applying Israeli sovereignty to the settlements and expanding them. The party's MKs did not back every sovereignty bill, and nothing was found on what it proposes for the Palestinian Authority.

Closest option(s): applying Israeli sovereignty to the areas of settlement, which is closest to partial-sovereignty-area-c. The party's adviser described the main vote as a protest against the government, and no evidence was found for the other elements of full-sovereignty.

Judicial system

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The 2022 agreement commits the government to legislation to "strengthen governability". The coalition parties undertake to support the justice minister's bills on the relations between the branches, including the selection of judges and an "override clause" (a power for the Knesset to re-pass a law the Supreme Court has struck down) in a Basic Law: Legislation (clauses 29–30, repeated in 120–121) [32].
  • Action (votes): On July 24, 2023 the Knesset passed, 64–0 with the opposition boycotting, the law limiting the courts' "reasonableness" review [35]. The Supreme Court struck it down, 8–7, on January 1, 2024 [81]. On March 27, 2025 the Knesset passed, 67–1 with the opposition boycotting, the law changing how judges are chosen, which takes effect in the next Knesset [34]. Agudat Yisrael's MKs at the time (Eichler, Tessler and Roth) voted for both laws [85]. On October 29, 2025, after leaving the coalition, Goldknopf, Tessler, Eichler and Porush voted for a bill to split the attorney general's role in its preliminary reading (61–46). On July 15, 2026 Goldknopf and Tessler, and Porush, voted for the law on the attorney general's legal opinions, which passed 65–51 [85]. Under that law the government may decide that the attorney general's written legal opinions do not bind it, except in criminal matters [91].
  • Statement: In March 2025 Goldknopf, Tessler and Roth complained that Likud was "advancing the legal reform" while not keeping its commitment on yeshiva students [44]. In September 2024 Yisrael Eichler, then an Agudat Yisrael MK, described the legal system as acting "like a dictatorship" [57]. In June 2026, as deputy minister, Eichler took part in an event outside the Supreme Court at which Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called for the High Court of Justice to be replaced [73].

Closest option(s): giving elected officials more power over the courts (continue-judicial-changes). This rests on the coalition agreement UTJ signed and on the recorded votes of the party's MKs, including its current candidates Goldknopf and Tessler in 2025 and 2026. The statements quoted are by Eichler, who no longer runs for Agudat Yisrael.

October 7 inquiry

  • Action (votes against a state commission of inquiry): Agudat Yisrael's MKs voted against the opposition bills to set up a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack whenever they are recorded as voting: Eichler, Tessler and Roth on July 17, 2024 (two bills, both failed 51–53); Eichler and Tessler, with Porush, on November 12, 2025 (three bills), after the party had left the coalition; and Goldknopf and Tessler on July 1, 2026 (three bills) [86].
  • Action (the Knesset-appointed alternative): When the coalition's bill for a "state-national" commission, whose members would be picked through the Knesset, passed its preliminary reading 53–48 on December 24, 2025, Goldknopf and Tessler are not recorded as voting, and Porush, then an Agudat Yisrael MK, abstained [86].

No statement or party decision by Agudat Yisrael or Goldknopf on the inquiry was found. Sources checked: JDN coverage of the inquiry debate from 2024 to 2026 (including the government's November 2025 decision on a non-state commission), the Times of Israel topic pages on UTJ and Agudat Yisrael, and the 2022 coalition agreement, which predates the October 7 attack.

Closest option(s): tentative. The party's MKs voted against a state commission under the existing law, which rules out state-commission-under-existing-law. The alternative on the table in those votes was a commission picked through the Knesset (commission-appointed-by-knesset-balance), but the party's MKs are not recorded as voting for it and the party has stated no preference.

Religion and state

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The 2022 Likud–UTJ agreement includes a long religion-and-state chapter [32]:
    • the religious "status quo" will be kept "as it has been for decades", and the parties will act to correct harm done to it, "including legislation as needed" (clause 94);
    • any law on religious matters needs UTJ's agreement in advance (clause 98);
    • the government will act to honor Shabbat and will not allow discrimination against a worker for keeping Shabbat (clause 99);
    • Shabbat work permits will require a Chief Rabbinate representative (clause 102);
    • prayer at the Western Wall will follow the status quo (clause 103);
    • a law will allow gender-separated services and events (clause 108);
    • the powers of rabbinical courts will be expanded, including civil arbitration by consent (clauses 109–113);
    • the previous government's kashrut reform will be cancelled (clause 114);
    • conversion will stay under the Chief Rabbinate's authority (clause 125);
    • the Law of Return will be reviewed (clause 126).
  • Action (Basic Law: Torah Study): On July 13, 2026 the Knesset passed the Basic Law: Torah Study, which declares Torah study a foundational value [48]. In committee, the coalition removed a clause meant to create a "balance" between Torah study and other values such as military service. Goldknopf opposed removing it: "No one spoke to me about removing it, and I do not agree" [22, 47]. He and Tessler voted for the law in its final reading, which passed 63–52 [85].
  • Action (kashrut): In July 2026 the Knesset passed, 46–41, a law cancelling private kashrut certification and returning that authority to the Chief Rabbinate and local rabbis, as clause 114 of the agreement had promised [69, 32]. The report credits Shas [69]. Goldknopf and Tessler voted for it [85].
  • Statement and record: Goldknopf served for years as secretary of the Rabbis' Committee for the Sanctity of Shabbat [27]. In 2022 he said UTJ's campaign would appeal to all Shabbat-observant voters [27]. In his maiden speech he said many Israelis want the country's character "to be Jewish", while adding that he did not come to the Knesset "to educate others to think as I do" [56].

Closest option(s): giving Jewish religious law a bigger role, with Shabbat enforced in public and marriage and conversion kept only with the Orthodox Rabbinate (strengthen-jewish-character); much of the signed agreement is framed as keeping and restoring the status quo (keep-status-quo).

Other notable positions

Torah study and yeshiva funding

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The 2022 agreement raised the funding formula for yeshiva students and married kollel students (clause 93) [32].
  • Action (budget outcome): According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the yeshiva budget grew from NIS 1.7 billion to NIS 1.9 billion in 2026. Since April 2024, yeshivas have not received state funding for students who are required to enlist and have not done so, which the institute puts at about NIS 650 million a year [14]. The final 2026 budget, passed 62–55 on March 30, 2026, included about NIS 800 million in additions for Haredi institutions [66].
  • Statement: Goldknopf has said Torah study is "the foundation on which the existence of the Jewish people stands" and is "not the property of a particular party or sector" [56].

Haredi education and daycare

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The agreement protects the "independence" of Haredi education and of schools exempt from the core curriculum, promises classroom, kindergarten and daycare building in Haredi areas, says free-education entitlements will apply equally to all types of institutions, and says the criteria for state daycare subsidies will not change without the agreement of all coalition factions (clauses 128–132) [32].
  • Statement: In 2022 Goldknopf demanded full state funding for Haredi kindergartens ("in kindergartens there is no core curriculum, it is the same plasticine") and state payment of rent for Haredi schools housed in rented apartments [27].
  • Context: Since March 2025, families where the father is required to enlist and has not done so have lost daycare subsidies [14]. A 2026 High Court ruling extended this, and the Labor Ministry applied it to the 2026–27 subsidy criteria in August 2026 [61]. Agudat Yisrael's MKs have opposed these steps as cuts to Torah students' families [45, 57].

Shabbat

  • Record: Goldknopf led the Rabbis' Committee for the Sanctity of Shabbat for years [27].
  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The agreement bars discrimination against Shabbat-observant workers and gives the Chief Rabbinate a role in permits for Shabbat work (clauses 99, 102) [32].
  • Statement: In 2022 he named Shabbat as the starting point of UTJ's campaign and said Netanyahu "wants to honor the religious and Haredi public" [27].

Separate Haredi cities

  • Statement: Goldknopf champions building new Haredi cities in the Negev (Kasif, Plugot, Tila), calling them "a long-term solution to the sector's rapid growth". The Finance Ministry opposes them [30].

Burial

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The agreement commits to expanding ground burial and setting up a government committee on burial reform, with the housing minister involved (clause 106) [32].

Gender-separated services

  • Action (signed coalition agreement): The agreement commits to amending the law so that separate services, events and spaces for men and women are allowed for religious reasons (clause 108) [32].

Consumer taxes

  • Statement: In October 2022 Goldknopf called the tax on sweetened drinks "another wicked decree" of then Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman that mistreated the "Shabbat-observant Haredi public", and said cutting sugar consumption should be pursued through public information rather than taxation [55].
  • Action: The tax was cancelled in January 2023 under the coalition agreement [32, 70].

Relations with the attorney general and the courts over enlistment

  • Statement: Party leaders accuse the attorney general and the courts of leading a campaign against Torah students. In October 2025 Goldknopf said yeshiva students "became criminals only because they are Torah learners" [59]. In July 2025 Porush, then an Agudat Yisrael MK, said the attorney general had made "religious persecution" her main occupation [39]. In September 2024 Eichler said the "legal dictatorship" had "struck down the laws we passed" on Torah study [57].

Coalition stance

Statements before the 2022 election. In July 2022 Goldknopf said: "We are going with the right… I hope there will be a blessing in this step." He said Netanyahu "wants to keep Shabbat" and that Yair Lapid would first have to show changed conduct [27].

Kept in 2022. After the November 2022 election, UTJ, with Agudat Yisrael, negotiated with Netanyahu and on December 28, 2022 signed a coalition agreement with Likud [37, 32].

Leaving the government (2025). In May 2025 JDN reported, citing Channel 12, that the Gur Rebbe had told Goldknopf to leave the government and saw Netanyahu as having "become a burden" for the Haredi public. Goldknopf responded that without progress on yeshiva students there would be a departure from the coalition or a bill to dissolve the Knesset [43]. In June 2025 two of Agudat Yisrael's three MKs, Tessler and Roth, voted for six dissolution bills that failed (52–61 and 53–61); the third, Eichler, voted against [7, 85]. In July 2025 the party's ministers and MKs resigned their coalition posts [41, 42].

Conditions for the next government.

  • July 7, 2026: when Netanyahu asked the Haredi parties to commit to staying in his bloc after the election, Agudat Yisrael reportedly told him: "First you pass the laws, then we'll talk" [25].
  • September 28, 2026: Channel 12 reported, citing senior Gur sources, that Goldknopf and Tessler might abstain rather than vote against a minority government led by Gadi Eisenkot [21, 62, 33]. Goldknopf responded: "Agudat Yisrael will not support the formation of a government, and will not help any government from outside, without settling the status of yeshiva students and passing a draft law without sanctions and without targets" [62].
  • The same day, list leader Yaakov Asher (Degel HaTorah) said UTJ "has no desire to topple or crown anyone" and that all its components would not support or join any government until the status of Torah students is settled [63, 21].

Contradiction: In July 2025 the Agudat Yisrael Council of Torah Sages ruled that the party's representatives must "leave the coalition and resign their positions in the Knesset and the government" [42]. In January 2026, however, Agudat Yisrael MK Yisrael Eichler accepted an appointment as Deputy Communications Minister in the same government [71, 74]. JDN reported that the council had not reached a decision on the draft bill, because the Belz Rebbe opposed breaking up the coalition while the Gur Rebbe demanded firm opposition [71]. Eichler, of Belz, is no longer an Agudat Yisrael candidate; Belz now runs under Chomat Torat Yisrael [50, 52].

Contradiction: In the 2022 coalition agreement, UTJ (including Agudat Yisrael) committed to keeping the coalition in place until the end of the 25th Knesset (clause 8) [32]. In June 2025 two of Agudat Yisrael's three MKs voted for a bill to dissolve the Knesset, and in July 2025 the party left the coalition [7, 42]. The party says Likud broke the agreement first by not passing the yeshiva-students law promised in clause 90 before the 2023 budget [44, 42].

Track record on such pledges. The party joined the right-wing coalition as Goldknopf said it would in 2022 [27, 32]. Its 2025 exit followed repeated, stated conditions about the draft law [44, 45, 7, 42]. In November 2024 the party's newspaper, HaModia, warned in an editorial that Haredim might choose to ally with neither the right nor the left [58]. For 2026 its stated condition is a draft law "without sanctions and without targets", not a commitment to any prime-ministerial candidate [62].

Track record

Agudat Yisrael was in government from December 2022 to July 2025 through UTJ, with Goldknopf as housing minister, Porush as Jerusalem and Heritage minister and Tessler as deputy minister. Eichler served as deputy minister from January 2026 [74]. Here is how the main commitments in its coalition agreement fared:

Commitment (2022 Likud–UTJ agreement) What happened
Amend the Security Service Law to settle yeshiva students' status before the 2023 budget (cl. 90) [32] Not delivered. No law passed in the 25th Knesset. The IDI wrote in March 2026 that the bill would most likely lapse with the Knesset [14]. Goldknopf resigned in June 2025 and the party left the coalition in July 2025 [7, 41, 9].
Basic Law: Torah Study before the 2023 budget (cl. 90) [32] Delivered late, without the "balance" clause. Passed July 13, 2026, after the clause was removed over Goldknopf's objection [48, 47].
Cancel taxes on sweetened drinks and disposable tableware (cl. 23, 87) [32] Delivered in January 2023 [70].
Cancel the previous government's kashrut reform (cl. 114) [32] Delivered. Its entry into force was postponed by six months on December 29, 2022, and a law cancelling it passed in July 2026 [68, 69].
Raise yeshiva funding (cl. 93) [32] Delivered in part. The yeshiva budget rose to NIS 1.9 billion in 2026, while funding for students who are required to enlist and have not done so has been withheld since April 2024 [14].
Keep daycare-subsidy criteria unchanged without coalition consent (cl. 131–132) [32] Not delivered. Subsidies were cut from March 2025 for families of men who are required to enlist and have not done so, and the cut was extended after a 2026 High Court ruling [14, 61].
Housing priority and planning reform (cl. 60–63) [32] Mixed. As housing minister, Goldknopf shifted a much larger share of subsidized "Target Price" homes to Haredi areas [29]. Plans for new Haredi cities in the Negev were paused in February 2026 [30].
Changes to the judicial system (cl. 29–30, 120–121) [32] Partly delivered while UTJ was in the coalition: the reasonableness law in July 2023 (struck down in January 2024) and the judicial-selection law in March 2025 (takes effect in the next Knesset) [35, 81, 34].

Out of government (since July 2025).

  • Agudat Yisrael opposed the 2026 budget in its first reading [13, 65]. In the final reading on March 30, 2026, which passed 62–55, Goldknopf and Tessler voted against [66, 67, 85].
  • It refused to back the Bismuth draft bill because of its sanctions [16, 49]. In May 2026, according to JDN, Degel HaTorah and the other Haredi parties formally told Netanyahu that they rejected the bill's current outline and would not back it before the election [77].
  • Agudat Yisrael backed early elections in May 2026 [11, 12].
  • Goldknopf attended mass protests in July 2026 against the arrest of yeshiva students and urged calm at one of them [23].

Legal or ethical matters involving leaders

  • State Comptroller finding (official report, 2009): In its annual report 59B, covering audits from March to September 2008, the State Comptroller reviewed the "Beit Yaakov" Jerusalem kindergarten and daycare network. It found that, although the Education Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality funded about 80% of its kindergartens at rates similar to state kindergartens, the network had cut the pay of most of its kindergarten teachers by 10% or more below the required scale, and had paid assistants for only 11 months a year (or less) despite receiving money for their summer pay. The report said the findings showed "improper management" by the network's management, "a waste of public funds" and "denial of wage rights", and that the management must pay proper wages immediately [31]. The report does not name Goldknopf. He has said he ran the network from 1989 "until recently" (as of November 2022), and Israel Hayom reported that the network was managed by him until the 2022 election [56, 82]. Status: a finding about the network's management, not about Goldknopf personally; no proceedings against him followed from it in the sources found.
  • The party's accounts: State Comptroller finding (February 2025). In his audit of Knesset factions' current accounts for December 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023, the State Comptroller found that three factions, among them Agudat Yisrael, had not reported and paid on time to the Israel Tax Authority the 25% special tax they deducted from the pay of activists and workers in the 25th Knesset election campaign. Agudat Yisrael paid about NIS 425,000 of this tax late. The Comptroller did not give it a positive report and withheld NIS 50,000 of its current funding [93]. Status: a finding about the party's accounts, not about an individual. No later change to this finding was found.
  • No indictments, convictions or official inquiries involving Goldknopf, Tessler or Roth were found. The check covered Knesset records, Times of Israel, JDN and Israel Hayom coverage of the party and its leaders from 2022 to 2026, the State Comptroller report above, and Hebrew web searches on Goldknopf and the network. A 2024 civil class action by employees against the network ended in a court-approved settlement; it is not listed because it produced no court finding and the report does not say Goldknopf was a party to it [82].

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  50. ריענון שורות גם בבעלזא: ח"כ ישראל אייכלר יוחלף באליקים שטארק. JDN, 2026-09-07. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2724402/
  51. מתיחות באגודת ישראל: הפיצוץ בישיבת מועצת הסיעה והמתיחות סביב הריצה המשותפת לכנסת. JDN, 2026-09-07. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2725003/
  52. דרמה באגודת ישראל: פרוש ושטארק הקימו מפלגה חדשה; פיצוץ במגעים עם גור. JDN, 2026-09-08. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2725798/
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  55. "גזירה מרושעת של איווט": הנתון החדש שהצליח להרגיז את גולדקנופף. JDN, 2022-10-29. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/1848240/
  56. גולדקנופף בנאום בכורה: "התורה הקדושה אינה נחלת מגזר מסוים". JDN, 2022-11-21. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/1860632/
  57. ח"כ אייכלר: "דעתי האישית היא שעלינו לפרוש מהממשלה, היא לא עוזרת לנו". JDN, 2024-09-18. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2269810/
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  59. החכ"ים זועמים: "השתוללות בגיבוי היועמשי"ת שחרטה על דגלה מלחמה בלומדי התורה". JDN, 2025-10-22. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2503982/
  60. מועצת גדולי התורה: דאגה עמוקה על מסע ההתנכלות ללומדי התורה ע"י המדינה. JDN, 2026-01-16. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2559266/
  61. הכניסה לילדים חרדים אסורה: החלה ההרשמה לסבסוד מעונות היום לשנת תשפ"ז. JDN, 2026-08-24. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2715913/
  62. דיווח: גולדקנופף עשוי להימנע בהצבעה על ממשלת איזנקוט. JDN, 2026-09-28. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2735593/
  63. יו"ר יהדות התורה: "לא נתמוך באף ממשלה ללא הסדרת מעמד לומדי התורה". JDN, 2026-09-28. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2735594/
  64. גולדקנופף על ניסיון המעצר: "מראות מזעזעים, אות קלון למדינה יהודית". JDN, 2026-10-06. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2739879/
  65. קרע ביהדות התורה: גולדקנופף יצביע נגד התקציב; ח"כי דגל יתמכו. JDN, 2026-01-28. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2569026/
  66. דרמה לילית: האופוזיציה הצביעה בטעות בעד תוספות לחרדים. JDN, 2026-03-30. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2619773/
  67. Haredi parties likely to vote for 2026 state budget despite lack of exemption law. Times of Israel, 2026-03-09. https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredi-parties-likely-to-vote-for-2026-state-budget-despite-lack-of-exemption-law/
  68. החתימה הראשונה של הממשלה: מלכיאלי חתם על ביטול רפורמת הכשרות. JDN, 2022-12-29. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/1882895/
  69. רפורמת הכשרות של כהנא – בוטלה, מלכיאלי מחזק את הרבנות הראשית. JDN, 2026-07-15. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2693119/
  70. מביך: המיסים על החד פעמי ושתייה מתוקה יירדו או יעלו? JDN, 2023-01-02. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/1885549/
  71. חוזרים לקואליציה? אייכלר ימונה לסגן שר התקשורת; פינדרוס יחזור לכנסת. JDN, 2026-01-15. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2558390/
  72. נציג חדש בוועדה: חבר הכנסת יצחק גולדקנופף נבחר כנציג הכנסת לוועדה לבחירת דיינים. JDN, 2026-06-03. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2665094/
  73. קרעי ואייכלר מול העליון: "יש לבטל את בג"ץ ולהקים בית דין גבוה לצדק אמיתי". JDN, 2026-06-22. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2678628/
  74. United Torah Judaism faction (FactionID 1101) membership and MK positions, 25th Knesset (KNS_PersonToPosition). Knesset Parliament Information OData service, accessed 2026-10-06. https://knesset.gov.il/Odata/ParliamentInfo.svc/KNS_PersonToPosition()?$filter=FactionID%20eq%201101
  75. פיצול ביהדות התורה: אגודת ישראל ודגל התורה יתמודדו בנפרד. Globes, 2019-01-09. https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001268283
  76. ועדת הכנסת החליטה על פיצול סיעת יהדות התורה לשתי סיעות. Maariv, 2020-12-28. https://www.maariv.co.il/breaking-news/article-811349
  77. טלטלה פוליטית: המפלגות החרדיות דוחות את מתווה חוק הגיוס. JDN, 2026-05-24. https://www.jdn.co.il/news/2657217/
  78. דגל התורה (party page, "All Israeli elections and parties"). Israel Democracy Institute, accessed 2026-10-07. https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/parties/degel-hatora/
  79. יהדות התורה (party page, "All Israeli elections and parties"). Israel Democracy Institute, accessed 2026-10-07. https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/parties/yahadut-hatorah/
  80. Knesset factions containing "תורה" or "אגודת", 16th–25th Knesset, with start and end dates (KNS_Faction). Knesset Parliament Information OData service, accessed 2026-10-07. https://knesset.gov.il/Odata/ParliamentInfo.svc/KNS_Faction()?$filter=KnessetNum%20ge%2016%20and%20(substringof('%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94',Name)%20or%20substringof('%D7%90%D7%92%D7%95%D7%93%D7%AA',Name))
  81. High Court strikes down reasonableness amendment. Globes, 2024-01-01. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-high-court-strikes-down-reasonableness-amendment-1001466668
  82. הסכם פשרה: רשת גני הילדים שהיתה בבעלות גולדקנוף תיאלץ לשלם סכום של מיליונים לגננות וסייעות. Israel Hayom, 2024-04-09. https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/law/article/15573129
  83. Knesset passes motion backing West Bank annexation. The Jewish Chronicle, 2025-07-23. https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/knesset-passes-motion-west-bank-annexation-dkcm4fmu
  84. Yaakov Tessler: position records (KNS_PersonToPosition, PersonID 30671). Knesset Parliament Information OData service, accessed 2026-10-07. https://knesset.gov.il/Odata/ParliamentInfo.svc/KNS_PersonToPosition()?$filter=PersonID%20eq%2030671
  85. Knesset plenum votes 39785 (Basic Law: The Judiciary, Amendment No. 3, 2023-07-24), 43884 (Basic Law: The Judiciary, Amendment No. 4, 2025-03-27), 44612 (bill to split the attorney general's role, preliminary reading, 2025-10-29), 46462 (Attorney General Law (Legal Opinions, Representation and Supervision), third reading, 2026-07-15), 46248 (Basic Law: Torah Study, third reading, 2026-07-13), 46670 (Security Service Law, Amendment No. 28, third reading, 2026-07-14), 46355 (Prohibition of Kashrut Fraud Law, Amendment No. 5, third reading, 2026-07-15), 40533 (VAT order, 2024-03-11), 42651 (Economic Efficiency Law, third reading, 2024-12-31), 44209 and 44210 (Knesset dissolution bills, preliminary readings, 2025-06-12), 45165 (2026 Budget Law, first reading, 2026-01-28) and 45675 (2026 Budget Law, third reading, 2026-03-30): official per-MK records. Knesset vote-details service, accessed 2026-10-12. https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/39785 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/43884 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44612 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46462 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46248 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46670 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46355 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/40533 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/42651 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44209 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44210 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/45165 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/45675
  86. Knesset plenum votes on state commission of inquiry bills (41283 and 41284, 2024-07-17; 44660, 44661 and 44669, 2025-11-12; 46366, 46367 and 46368, 2026-07-01), on the state-national commission of inquiry bill (44946, preliminary reading, 2025-12-24) and on sovereignty (38405, 2023-03-15; 42820, 2025-01-22; 44413, 2025-07-23; 44580 and 44575, 2025-10-22; 44992, 2025-12-31): official per-MK records. Knesset vote-details service, accessed 2026-10-12. https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/41283 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/41284 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44660 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44661 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44669 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46366 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46367 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/46368 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44946 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/38405 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/42820 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44413 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44580 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44575 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/WebSiteApi/knessetapi/Votes/GetVoteDetails/44992
  87. Knesset factions named Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah or United Torah Judaism, all Knessets, with start and end dates (KNS_Faction), and House Committee session of 2026-07-16 with the agenda item on UTJ's request to split (KNS_CommitteeSession, KNS_CmtSessionItem). Knesset parliament information service (OData), accessed 2026-10-12. https://www.knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_Faction?$filter=contains(Name,'%D7%93%D7%92%D7%9C%20%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94')%20or%20contains(Name,'%D7%90%D7%92%D7%95%D7%93%D7%AA%20%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C')%20or%20contains(Name,'%D7%99%D7%94%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA%20%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94') ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_CommitteeSession?$filter=Id%20eq%202245253 ; https://www.knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_CmtSessionItem?$filter=CommitteeSessionID%20eq%202245253
  88. High Court strikes down law shielding haredi yeshiva students from arrest over draft evasion. The Jerusalem Post, 2026-09-03. https://jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-907553
  89. 2 West Bank annexation bills get initial nod, with MKs rebelling against PM as Vance visits. Times of Israel, 2025-10-22. https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-west-bank-annexation-bills-get-initial-nod-with-mks-rebelling-against-pm-as-vance-visits/
  90. 24 שרים הצביעו בעד, 8 התנגדו: עסקת החטופים אושרה בממשלה. Ynet, 2025-01-17. https://www.ynet.co.il/article/bkglsnudjx
  91. KNS_Bill record 2197909: Attorney General Law (Legal Opinions, Representation and Supervision), 2026, with official summary. Knesset parliament information service (OData), accessed 2026-10-12. https://www.knesset.gov.il/OdataV4/ParliamentInfo/KNS_Bill(2197909)
  92. קואליציית נתניהו הפילה את החוק להחיל ריבונות בבקעה. Srugim, 2023-03-15. https://www.srugim.co.il/773889-%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%90%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%a6%d7%99%d7%99%d7%aa-%d7%a0%d7%aa%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%94%d7%95-%d7%94%d7%a4%d7%99%d7%9c%d7%94-%d7%90%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%97%d7%95%d7%a7-%d7%9c%d7%94%d7%97%d7%99%d7%9c-%d7%a8
  93. דוח על תוצאות ביקורת החשבונות השוטפים של הסיעות בכנסת העשרים וחמש לתקופה שבין 1.12.22 ל-31.12.23. State Comptroller of Israel, 2025-02. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2025/2025-Knesset-25.docx

Information availability

There is enough public information to describe Agudat Yisrael's positions on its core issues. It has a long Knesset and government record (2022–2025), a signed coalition agreement, and heavy coverage of its leaders in Hebrew Haredi and general media. The evidence is strongest on Haredi enlistment, religion and state, housing (from Goldknopf's term as minister) and coalition conditions.

Gaps:

  • The party publishes no general platform (מצע); positions on most national issues come from the coalition agreement it signed in 2022 and from its leaders' statements.
  • No documented position was found on Iran and the region. On the October 7 inquiry there are recorded votes but no statement, and evidence on Gaza and crime in Arab society is thin.
  • The party's makeup changed in September 2026, when the Shlomei Emunim and Belz factions (Porush, Stark, and earlier Eichler) moved to Chomat Torat Yisrael. Statements and votes by those figures before September 2026 were made as Agudat Yisrael representatives but may not reflect the current party.
  • Individual Knesset votes for 2023–2026 were checked on October 12, 2026 against the Knesset's official per-MK vote records [85, 86]. Several of those votes were cast by MKs (Eichler, Roth and Porush) who are not Agudat Yisrael candidates in 2026.
  • Partway through the original research the general web-search tool became unavailable. The fact-check added targeted Hebrew and English searches on legal matters, Iran and the October 7 inquiry; these found no positions on Iran and no statements on the inquiry.