Yitzhak Goldknopf

Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich (standing) with United Torah Judaism leader Yitzchak Goldknopf at the Knesset on November 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 22, 2023, 2:29 pm

Netanyahu gives UTJ nod to pay NIS 250m to yeshiva students, ending budget boycott

As final budget votes begin in Knesset, government secures critical support for two-year, trillion-shekel plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a cabinet meeting held in the Western Wall tunnels on May 21, 2023 (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

May 21, 2023, 4:30 pm

Netanyahu vows state budget will pass, says coalition differences can be bridged

Pushing back against criticism over funding for Haredi schools that don’t teach core studies, PM claims he is leveling the playing field; Gantz: Ultra-Orthodox kids deserve better

By ToI Staff

Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman at the Knesset on May 18, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 21, 2023, 11:00 am

Liberman: PM ‘should suffer in hell’ for not making Haredi schools teach core studies

Yisrael Beytenu head says Netanyahu government’s subsidies will doom many to remain in poverty; predicts UTJ, Otzma Yehudit will get ‘backdoor’ funds

By ToI Staff

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf arrives for a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on May 7, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 21, 2023, 3:50 am

Coalition tensions escalate amid Haredi demands for more funds ahead of budget vote

UTJ head reportedly threatens to thwart passage of budget — without which government will fall — unless Netanyahu government okays NIS 600 million ($164 million) more by Sunday

By ToI Staff

File: Noam chair Avi Maoz speaks during a function at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 20, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

May 19, 2023, 7:25 pm

Far-right MK threatens to vote against budget if ‘Jewish identity’ unit not formed

Avi Maoz says ruling bloc will be down a member if cabinet doesn’t discuss allocating $90 million for new department that Netanyahu promised him

By ToI Staff

Likud party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shakes hands with United Torah Judaism party leader Yitzhak Goldknopf in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem on November 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 18, 2023, 11:48 pm

Dueling ministers said threatening to quit government over budget demands

Finance Minister Smotrich denies report he’s warning he’ll resign if Haredi parties’ demands for further funds are met

By ToI Staff

The Brothers in Arms protest outside the home of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Jerusalem, May 16, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 16, 2023, 12:55 pm

Mayors warn they won’t transfer local taxes to coalition’s contentious planned fund

Municipal leaders of Givatayim and Ramat Gan say they’ll take matter to court; strike continues, but children return to school; protesters rally outside housing minister’s home

By ToI Staff

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir walks past Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (seated, left), Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Infrastructure and Energy Minister Israel Katz in the Knesset plenum on May 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 4, 2023, 2:01 pm

Daily Briefing May 4: Ministers ‘threaten’ coalition breakup; UK coronation preview

Editor David Horovitz analyzes the latest Knesset theatrics; diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman on abducted Ukrainian children and strengthened ties with EU

By ToI Staff

File: Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf attends a conference in Tel Aviv on March 22, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

May 4, 2023, 2:14 am

Government will ‘fall apart’ without law on Haredi military exemption, warns minister

As the PM drags his feet on the issue, UTJ officials tell ultra-Orthodox weekly that an ‘alternative’ coalition can be formed

By ToI Staff and Jeremy Sharon

An Israeli soldier places flags, flowers and candles on graves of fallen soldiers at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, April 23, 2023, ahead of Memorial Day. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

April 23, 2023, 6:30 pm

String of coalition ministers, MKs withdraw from Memorial Day events amid protests

UTJ and Shas lawmakers who did not serve in IDF back out of events, as does Likud Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan, who has been criticized for recent incendiary comments

By Ash Obel

Minister of Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv on March 22, 2023 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

March 22, 2023, 12:54 pm

Tel Aviv, Jerusalem anti-overhaul protests target ministers Regev, Goldknopf, Zohar

Convoys circle Knesset as committee debates judicial appointments bill; demonstrators rally outside Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, some interrupt housing minister’s speech

By Michael Horovitz

Illustrative: The Negev community of Carmit, November 18, 2022. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

February 5, 2023, 11:13 pm

Government advances plans for new community near Gaza Strip

Coalition moves forward with construction of ‘Hanon’ for at least 500 families, reportedly eyes restart of controversial Jerusalem development beyond Green Line

By Danielle Nagler

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf arrives for a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on January 3, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 31, 2023, 1:44 pm

New inter-ministerial cabinet to tackle Israel’s housing crisis

Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf to head committee tasked with delivering more home-building in a bid to lower prices

By Danielle Nagler

Aryeh Deri arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 22, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 22, 2023, 4:15 pm

Deri claims he and Netanyahu always planned to obey court, vows to keep leading Shas

Lapid pans government ‘circus’ over party leader’s dismissal and Religious Zionism’s boycott of cabinet meeting; Gantz laments that carrying out ruling became ‘not so clear-cut’

By ToI Staff

Shas leader Aryeh Deri, the Minister of Interior and Health, with supporters outside his home in Jerusalem on January 18, 2023, hours after the High Court said he cannot hold ministerial office. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 22, 2023, 5:33 am

Tragically, Deri’s ‘great revolution’ will continue even if he can’t outflank court

Shas leader is vowing to keep championing ‘the poorer echelons,’ but he and his ultra-Orthodox colleagues do the opposite — with calamitous consequences, as the PM well knows

By David Horovitz