The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party has decided to remove longtime lawmakers Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev from its Knesset slate ahead of the upcoming election, one of the party’s top rabbinical leaders confirmed Saturday night, in a dramatic shakeup after the party failed to pass legislation exempting Haredi men from military service.
MK Yaakov Asher is expected to replace Gafni as chairman of Degel HaTorah, one of two factions that make up UTJ, and will head the joint slate, according to Hebrew media reports.
No major changes are expected within Agudat Yisrael, the second faction of the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party, led by Yitzhak Goldknopf.
The decision to oust Gafni came nearly four decades after he was first elected to the Knesset in 1988. Gafni served almost continuously as a lawmaker since then and chaired the Knesset Finance Committee for more than a decade.
Maklev, who entered the Knesset in 2008 and is also considered highly respected within the ultra-Orthodox community, will likewise be excluded from the party’s slate, according to reports.
