Degel HaTorah Chair Moshe Gafni Blasts Finance Minister Smotrich Over Tax Benefit Dispute

Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah and Knesset member, sharply criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the head of the Israel Tax Authority on Monday amid a dispute over the revocation of tax benefits under Section 46 for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas. The confrontation escalated during a Finance Committee meeting after United Torah Judaism announced it would oppose approving tax benefits for all nonprofits in protest of the removal of benefits from ultra-Orthodox yeshivas.

Due to the faction's opposition, Finance Committee chairman Hanoch Milwitsky was forced to remove the issue from the agenda. During the session, Gafni declared, "I will not remain silent on this matter," and in a video recorded at the committee, he intensified his rhetoric, stating, "Our biggest troubles come from the people wearing the knitted kippot. The Finance Minister and the Tax Authority head. Who gave them permission to do this?" Another person responded, "Who gave them a license?" to which Gafni repeated, "Who gave them a license?"

As a result of United Torah Judaism's boycott, the committee did not approve tax benefits for various nonprofits. Among those affected was the charity fund of the Karlin Hasidic community in Beitar Illit, which was included in the list of organizations whose tax benefits were not brought for approval.