Agudat Yisrael

This article is about Israeli political party. For other organisations with similar names, see Agudas Israel.

Agudat Yisrael אגודת ישראל
Leader	Ya'akov Litzman
Founded	1912
Newspaper	Hamodia
Ideology	Torah, Torah Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Ashkenazi Haredim, Orthodox Halacha, Religious conservatism
Alliances	United Religious Front (1949–51) Religious Torah Front (1955–60, 1973–77) United Torah Judaism (current)
Most MKs	5 (1988)
Fewest MKs	2 (1984)
Current MKs	4 (Since 2013 Knesset Elections, as part of UTJ)
Election symbol
ג
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

File:Moetzes Agudas Yisroel meeting 5773.jpg

Agudat Yisrael council meeting

Agudat Yisrael (Hebrew: אגודת ישראל‎, lit. Union of Israel, also transliterated Agudath Israel, or Agudas Yisroel) began as the original political party representing the Haredi population of Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel until the 1980s, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine. It originated in the Agudath Israel movement founded in Upper Silesia in the early 20th century.

Since the 1980s, it has become a primarily Hasidic party, though it often combines with the Degel Hatorah non-Hasidic party for elections and coalition-forming. When so combined, they are known together as United Torah Judasim.

History

When political Zionism began to emerge in the 1890s and recruit supporters in Europe and America, it was opposed by most Orthodox Jews, who believed the Jewish state would emerge from divine intervention. World Agudath Israel was founded in Kattowitz, German Empire, (now Katowice, Poland) in 1912, with the purpose of providing an umbrella organization for observant Jews who opposed the Zionist movement.

In Palestine, Agudat Yisrael was established as a branch of this movement, to provide opposition to the organized Jewish community (the "Yishuv"). One of its most authoritative spokesmen against the formation of a Jewish State, the Dutch poet Jacob Israël de Haan, was assassinated by the Haganah in 1924. In the wake of the Holocaust, anti-Zionist rabbis who led Agudat Israel recognized the great utility of a Jewish state, and it became non-Zionist, rather than anti-Zionist. It did not actively participate in the creation of Israel, but it ceased its opposition. In 1933, it entered into an agreement with the Jewish Agency in Palestine, according to which Agudat Yisrael would receive 6.5% of the immigration permits. Eventually, at the eve of the Israeli Declaration of Independence (1948), Agudat Yisrael yielded to pressure from the Zionist movement and has been a participant in most governments since that time. The movement realized the benefits of more active participation in politics over time and agreed to become a coalition partner in several Israeli governments. However, its original reservations about a secular government influenced its decision to refuse cabinet positions.

Agudat Yisrael originally had a mix of Hasidic and "Litvish" (Lithuanian-style Haredi) membership. However, in the 1980s, Rabbi Elazar Shach, leader of Israel's Litvish community and their pre-eminent rosh yeshiva ("yeshiva dean"), split from the party. He created the new Degel HaTorah ("Flag of the Torah") party. Most of the Litvish community left Agudah to join Degel leaving Agudah with primarily Hasidic Jews. Rabbi Shach had earlier assisted Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef in splitting from Agudah to create a Sephardic Haredi party known as Shas. Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah have not always agreed with each other about policy matters; however, over the years the two parties have co-operated and united as a voting bloc in order to win the maximum amount of seats in the Knesset since many extra votes can be wasted if certain thresholds are not attained under Israel's proportional representation parliamentary system. The two parties chose to function and be listed under the name of United Torah Judaism (Yahadut HaTorah).

When both parties joined the government coalition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004 the UTJ union was broken due to rivalries. For the Israel legislative election, 2006 Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah once again put their differences aside and have officially revived their United Torah Judaism alliance in order to win the maximum amount of seats in the 17th Knesset.

Though Agudat Yisrael has never elected more than a handful of members in the Knesset, it has often played crucial roles in the formation of Israel's coalition governments because Israel's system of proportional representation allows small parties to wield the balance of power between the larger secular parties. This political leverage has been used to obtain funding for yeshivas and community institutions, to obtain a de facto exemption for Yeshiva students from military service and to pass legislation regarding observance of the Shabbat and kosher ("dietary") laws, often to the consternation of secular Israelis.

Religious and political leadership

Political power is vested in the Hasidic Rebbes of Boston, Ger, Vizhnitz and Belz.

In addition, policy decisions of Agudat Yisrael are ratified by its Council of Torah Sages, which includes several other prominent Hasidic leaders and scholars, many being the leading rabbis from the main constituent groups. When participating in government coalitions, the party generally refrains from accepting actual cabinet posts. Its positions on Israeli foreign policy and the Palestinian question has been flexible in the past, since the party formally rejects political secular 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 West Bank and thus more security conscious on military issues affecting Israel's survival. Agudat Yisrael supported Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan of 2005.

In 1948, Rabbi Yehuda Meir Abramowicz was appointed as General Secretary.

Rabbi Meir Porush, as well as Yaakov Litzman, and Yisrael Eichler, from the Hasidic courts of Ger and Belz have represented the party in Israel's Knesset. Another longtime Agudat MK is Rabbi Shmuel Halpert, a member of the court of Vizhnitz.

See also

• Agudath Israel of America
• Degel HaTorah
• Haredi Judaism
• Hasidim and Mitnagdim
• United Torah Judaism
• World Agudath Israel

External links

• Agudat Yisrael Knesset website
• Agudat Yisrael Jewish Virtual Library