Rabbi Schach's Confidant Slams Degel HaTorah Leadership

Rabbi Rafael Wolf, a former close associate and "house trustee" of the late Lithuanian Haredi leader Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach, has launched a scathing critique of the current leadership of the Degel HaTorah political party. Wolf expressed anger over recent political turmoil within the party and attempts to oust veteran representatives, stating that the "Degel HaTorah of today is no longer the Degel HaTorah that Rabbi Shach founded."

In an interview with Kol Chai radio, Rabbi Wolf accused the party's newspaper, "Yated Ne'eman," of actively trying to diminish Rabbi Shach's legacy. He drew a parallel to the party's founding in the late 1980s, when Rabbi Shach argued that the existing Agudat Yisrael party was not the same as its past iteration. Wolf asserted that "Yated Ne'eman" is now selectively shortening or lengthening titles and "trying with all their might to make people forget the figure of Rabbi Shach."

Furthermore, Wolf strongly opposed recent initiatives for rotation and renewal within the party's Knesset list, particularly concerning the status of MK Moshe Gafni. He stated that Rabbi Shach was vehemently against the idea of rotation and had initially recommended Gafni. Wolf argued that the notion of "the generation has changed" is not a valid reason to alter fundamental party principles, just as religious law is not changed based on generational shifts.