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Agudat Israel is an Israeli political party representing Haredi Judaism. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that the British Mandate of Palestine. It originated in the original Agudath Israel movement founded in Europe in the early part of the twentieth century. It is presently the Chasidic wing of the United Torah Judaism (Yahadut HaTorah) party, which is comprised of Agudat Israel, representing the Chasidim and Degel HaTorah, representing the non-Chasidic Misnagdim Haredi Jews.
Though the party has only ever elected a handful of members in the Knesset, it has often played a crucial role in coalition governments due to the nature of Israel's system of proportional representation and has used its political leverage to obtain funding for its yeshivas and community institutions and to pass legislation enforcing observance of the sabbath and kosher dietary laws, often to the consternation of secular Jewish Israelis.
Policy decisions of Aguddat Israel must be ratified by their Council of Torah Scholars, which consists of leading rabbis from the main constituent groups. When participating in government coalitions, they have generally refrained from accepting actual cabinet posts. Their positions on Israeli foreign policy and the Palestinian question has been flexible in the past since the party formally rejects Zionism and does not view such issues ideologically. Therefore, it has been able to participate in both Likud and Labour led coalitions. In more recent years it has become more sympathetic to the settler movement in the Occupied Territories and thus more hawkish on the Palestinian question.
Currently representing Agudat Israel in the Israeli Knesset are Rabbis Meir Porush, Yaakov Litzman, and Yisroel Eichler.
External links
- Agudat Israel (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/aguddat.html) article from the Jewish Virtual Library
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