Knesset member Moshe Gafni, who was removed from the Degel HaTorah list for the Knesset, is expected to receive a budget pension of 70% of his salary as a Knesset member. According to the current salary, the pension is estimated at about NIS 36,500 per month, about NIS 438,000 a year.
n addition, Gafni is expected to receive a one-time adjustment grant of NIS 312,000 from the Knesset
Rabbi Rafael Wolf, who was a close associate, confidant, and right‑hand man of Maran Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l — and a partner in the historic moments surrounding the founding of Degel HaTorah — delivered sharp criticism over the ousting of veteran Knesset members Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev.
In an interview with Natan Mashi and Avi Gadolovitz on the program “One in the Afternoon” on Kol Barama, Rabbi Wolf said he is “shocked” by the move, especially by the attempt to justify it as a need to “refresh” the ranks.
“Can you explain to me why they were dismissed?
What does ‘refreshing’ mean?
Where is there a new mitzvah in the Torah about refreshing?” he wondered.
“Do roshei yeshiva send people out in order to refresh the yeshiva?
Do rabbis send people out to refresh the rabbinate? This is a new mitzvah. Such a thing never existed in Judaism at all.”
Degel HaTorah — the Lithuanian faction within the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) alliance — recently removed two of its most senior and long‑serving MKs: Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev. Both have been central figures for decades:Gafni chaired the Knesset Finance Committee for many years. Maklev was a key parliamentary operator and coalition negotiator. Their removal represents a major generational and strategic shift inside the party.
In the Lithuanian Charedi world, political leadership is traditionally stable and guided by senior rabbinic authorities. Sudden changes — especially involving veteran figures — are rare and often interpreted as signs of deeper ideological or leadership struggles.
Rabbi Wolf’s comments reflect: Shock at the break from tradition, Suspicion toward the justification of “refreshing the ranks”, and concern that the move lacks precedent in Torah‑guided leadership norms
His rhetorical question — “Where is there a mitzvah of refreshing?” — expresses the belief that political decisions should be rooted in continuity and rabbinic guidance, not managerial language.
The shake‑up appears connected to: Internal rabbinic disagreements within the Lithuanian leadership Younger political figures seeking influence, Pressure to modernize party structures and finally Tensions between Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisrael (its Hasidic partner in UTJ)
These dynamics have been building for years, especially as:The older generation of gedolim has passed on, New rabbinic authorities are asserting different priorities and Younger activists want more representation
Their ousting signals:A shift away from the old guard, A possible redefinition of Degel HaTorah’s identity,A struggle over who speaks for the Lithuanian community, and A move that could reshape UTJ’s future coalition behavior
For many in the Charedi world, this is not just political — it’s a question of continuity of Torah leadership, which is why Rabbi Wolf frames it in religious terms.
Without predicting outcomes: Degel HaTorah may be entering a new era of leadership, UTJ’s internal balance could shift, The party’s negotiating style in future coalitions may change, Veteran voters may feel unsettled, while younger voters may welcome change
DIN: We live in a very sick society, people and even Jewish frum people defending Lindsay Clancey. Helllowwwwww she planned and executed her innocent children. Does anyone know the name of her children. One can justify every single murderer with this perverted logic that it was her medications, it could very well be, but at the end of the day, she murdered her children, why couldn't see just have killed herself and let her children live? She needs to be held accountable.
by Miranda Devine NYP
He couldn’t get over the fact that Clancy viciously killed her children.”
Those are the words of one of the insufferably condescending female jurors from the Lindsay Clancy mistrial who have gone public with their disdain for the lone male juror who refused to go along with their not guilty verdict.
Good for him.
The children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, have been the forgotten victims in this case.
The Massachusetts nurse does not dispute that she strangled her children one by one on Jan. 24, 2023, with exercise bands around their necks after she sent her husband, Patrick, out on an errand.
Patrick returned to his kids dead and his wife bleeding on the snow-covered yard after she cut her wrists and throat and leaped out a bedroom window 12 feet above the ground, rendering herself paralyzed from the waist down. Rather than accepting blame, Lindsay, 36, pleaded not guilty, claiming she could not tell right from wrong at the time because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, even though evidence for that was thin.
The retaliatory actions taken by the Israeli government against Great Britain in the wake of the latter’s anti settlement measure are simply not enough.
For example, both the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and the British Consulate in Jerusalem should have been closed. Indeed, I would go further and condition the reopening of the British Embassy only if it’s relocated to Jerusalem AND $6 billion restitution is paid for the British Government’s closure of entry to its Palestine Mandate to Jews fleeing Nazi extermination.
Moreover, I think it would have been right and proper for the Israeli Government to take this opportunity to announce that henceforth ALL embassies must either be relocated to Jerusalem or be closed until such action is taken.
Why a Gaza sand berm and concrete barrier will not defeat Hamas
Of course, why all the other signatories of Foreign Secretary Miliband’s antisemitic initiative weren’t also sanctioned by having their consulates in Jerusalem closed is totally beyond me.
And a further diplomatic retaliatory measure was needed: namely, ALL foreign diplomatic offices in Ramallah should also have been ordered permanently closed.
Recognizing American sovereignty over Greenland and supporting Argentina’s claim to the Malvinas Islands should also have been adopted.
But perhaps the greatest lost opportunity is the Israeli government’s cowardly refusal to officially declare the death of the Oslo Agreement. I ask, how much more Jewish blood has to be spilled before the genocidal P.A. regime in Ramallah is closed down?
And when will an Israeli Government that finally summon the courage to announce the application of our G-d given sovereignty over Judaea and Samaria? I mean, exactly who are we waiting to negotiate this with? Ed Milliband?
What Israel’s response to this whole sordid matter reflects, more than anything else, is our political establishment’s unwillingness to think and act decisively on foreign policy issues.
And until our administration adopts such a mindset, no matter who stands at its head, we will continue to calmly wipe the world’s spit off our faces while pretending it’s just rain.
by Jonathan Pollard
Read this article and read between the lines. I bolded those sentences! The Bnei-Teirah from Chevron get free "Kosher phones" and try all kinds of ways to bypass the filters
זו תורה וזו שכרה
A major controversy has erupted in Yeshivas Chevron in Yerushalayim after special “kosher” cellphones distributed to the yeshiva’s bochurim were discovered to contain a loophole that reportedly allows users to bypass the device’s restrictions and install virtually any application.
The Android 11-based devices had been specifically approved for use by the yeshiva and include several permitted features not generally found on standard kosher phones, including public transportation information, seforim and music. However, bochurim discovered that creating a new user profile on the phone apparently opens an unrestricted environment without the filtering and blocks imposed on the primary account.
Ironically, the loophole was discovered because bochurim were attempting to download Torah shiurim from Kol Halashon.
One talmid told B’Chadrei Chareidim that the bochurim were unable to transfer shiurim by cable using a station in the yeshiva, leading to notices being posted explaining that a new user could be created through the phone’s settings to enable the transfer.
“The story is that the bochurim wanted to download shiurim from ‘Kol Halashon,’ but they couldn’t copy the shiurim with the cable to the station in the yeshiva, so the yeshiva posted notices that a new user could be opened in the device’s settings and then it would be possible to copy the shiurim. What became clear is that the new user has no filtering at all and no blocking,” the talmid said.
The discovery has caused considerable turmoil inside the yeshiva. Another concern is that even if the devices receive a software update closing the loophole, bochurim may eventually discover another method of bypassing the restrictions.
The yeshiva had not yet issued an official response as of Wednesday night, and B’Chadrei reported that the devices will likely be collected from the bochurim.
The phones were introduced in an effort to combat the widespread use of so-called “kosher Xiaomi” devices — smartphones that can outwardly resemble approved kosher phones while providing access to unrestricted smartphone functions.
The initiative itself had previously generated controversy. Last year, the devices were distributed free of charge to younger bochurim in Vaad Aleph, although recipients were required to provide two security checks: NIS 600 in case the device was damaged and NIS 1,500 if the phone was deliberately breached. Several Gedolim and Roshei Yeshiva had initially opposed the device before it ultimately received approval from the yeshiva’s leadership.
At the beginning of the current Elul zman, the phones were distributed to the broader student body under the same deposit arrangement. Now, just weeks later, the newly discovered loophole has thrown the entire program into question.
The "Haredi Public" party, led by Motti Leitner. Received 2 million ILS from the hi-tech figure Shlomo Dubert. Dubert heads an economic research institute, previously advised Lapid, and he is known for the "Dubert Committee" that dealt with education,
"When we originally set out on our path, the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Torah world decided to speak the truth, and to grant us support of millions of shekels, out of the understanding that the old and disconnected leadership is leading to the destruction of the Torah world. In the past month, many in the Israeli public have come to realize that our path—preserving the Torah world while taking responsibility for our future and the future of the state—is not just a Haredi need, but a need for the State of Israel as a whole. We thank Shlomo Dovrat, who has been working for decades to integrate Haredim into the workforce, for expressing his trust in us and his support. We continue with all our might—until victory.
“Tens of thousands of Charedim now have a political home. Hundreds of thousands of traditional Jews who voted Shas have lost theirs, as the party has become a branch of the extremists of the Peleg.”
“Behind every name on this list stand tens of thousands of Charedim who, for years, have been dismissed, ignored, and pushed aside by an old and disconnected leadership.Behind every name on this list stand tens of thousands of Charedi mothers who have spent years pleading for their children to be taught mathematics and English simply so they will one day be able to support their families with dignity, only to be met with indifference, cruelty, and hostility from an outdated and bullying establishment.Behind every name on this list stand thousands of fathers who are in pain over children who cannot succeed in full-day yeshiva learning. Instead of being encouraged to enter military frameworks designed for Charedim, many simply fall through the cracks because the current leadership works to delegitimize anyone who serves in a Charedi brigade and refuses to give legitimacy to the very idea of ‘responsibility.’Behind this entire list stand hundreds of thousands of Israelis for whom the Jewish identity of the State matters deeply, people who have waited years for a party that will protect the sacred values and traditions of the Jewish people, while not turning its back on the State of Israel, not cursing IDF soldiers, and recognizing responsibility for the country’s future as a value in itself.Tens of thousands of Israelis who once voted Shas - once the political home of authentic Israeli Jewish tradition - have watched it become, in recent years, a branch of the Peleg extremists who shout in the streets, ‘We will die rather than enlist.’Today, for the first time, there is an alternative.With one ballot, we are offering hope and a future for the Charedi community. We are offering hope and a future for the State of Israel as a whole.The Charedi community is a growth engine for the State of Israel. The Torah world is the protective armor and shield of the Jewish people. Our priorities are clear. We are Charedim who fear the word of Hashem. We have chosen to preserve the tradition of our fathers, passed down for hundreds and thousands of years.But separation does not have to mean alienation.We will secure the future of the Charedi community - and in doing so, help secure the future of the State of Israel.”
The following is authored by 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸, Israeli-American Journalist and commentator.
