Moshe Gafni Faces Harsh Criticism Over Torah and Political Failures in United Torah Judaism

In a critical assessment of United Torah Judaism (UTJ), political commentator Shlomo Shamir argues that the party has failed its most significant test: the new military draft law. Despite this failure, veteran leaders like Moshe Gafni, Israel Eichler, and Yaakov Litzman cling to their positions, resisting calls for leadership renewal. Shamir highlights that no other party in Israel's parliamentary history has symbolized such failure, particularly in promoting religious values and shaping Israel’s identity as UTJ claims to do.

Shamir accuses UTJ representatives of undermining the very values they are supposed to uphold, even suggesting they have elevated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a near-divine status. While Gafni, who has long chaired the Finance Committee, secured generous budgets for yeshivas and ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, Shamir notes these institutions thrived before state funding and without government interference.

The commentator stresses that following the humiliating failure to pass a new draft law, it is time for Gafni and other senior UTJ leaders to step down and allow new, capable ultra-Orthodox figures from major Hasidic courts like Gur, Belz, and Vizhnitz, as well as from the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox sector, to lead. Shamir warns that the upcoming elections could have been an opportunity for revolutionary change in ultra-Orthodox parliamentary representation, potentially easing tensions between secular and Haredi communities in Israel. However, this chance will be lost if the current leadership maintains its grip on power, which Shamir describes not as a loss but as a disaster for the party and the broader society.