Meet United Torah Judaism's lineup: Who’s who in the 26th Knesset

Israel’s 26th Knesset is set to be sworn in on Tuesday, bringing 120 new and returning members of Knesset into the chamber after October’s election. It is a class that mixes political heavyweights with first-time parliamentarians: 47 of the incoming MKs have never served in the Knesset before, while 55 were not members of the outgoing parliament.

The incoming Knesset reflects an unusually broad cross-section of Israeli public life. Alongside longtime party leaders and former ministers, it includes business figures, religious educators, community activists, former security officials and newcomers from across the country’s political and social spectrum. Thirty-three of the 120 MKs are women, and the class ranges from veteran politicians returning to the Knesset after years away to first-timers who won a seat on their first national run. Among the returnees is Eli Goldschmidt, who left the Knesset 25 years ago as a Labor MK and is now returning as a Likud representative.

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud remains the largest single party, with 27 seats, followed by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar with 21 and Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad with 12. The Joint List won 11 seats, while The Democrats and Ra’am each took eight; Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit won seven apiece, and Shas and Religious Zionism six each.

The arithmetic leaves no bloc with a majority: Netanyahu’s right-religious bloc holds 53 seats, Eisenkot’s opposition bloc 48, and Arab-led parties the remaining 19, making the incoming Knesset one of the most fragmented in recent memory. Gadi Eisenkot was awarded the first mandate by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and now has just under a month to form a government out of the aforementioned parties.

United at the ballot box since 1992, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah form United Torah Judaism, an alliance representing Hasidic and Lithuanian Haredi communities.

Its politics center on religious education, community welfare and the place of Torah life in the Jewish state. In this installment of our Knesset profile series, we meet the people behind the alliance- their backgrounds, their priorities and how they navigate the relationship between religious commitments and parliamentary power.

Read more from i24NEWS’ profile series on the parties of the 26th Knesset >> Click here

Yaakov Asher — No. 1

Yaakov Asher built his career in municipal government, beginning at Bnei Brak municipality in 1990 as an aide to deputy mayor Eliyahu Suissa. He later became chief of staff to Mayor Yerachmiel Boyer, assistant to the municipal director-general and head of the education department.

He moved to Elad in 2000, where he ran for mayor and served as a council member and acting council head.

He returned to Bnei Brak in 2003, was elected to the city council and became its mayor in 2008 on behalf of Degel HaTorah, the Lithuanian faction of UTJ. He entered the Knesset in 2013, later chairing the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and serving as deputy speaker. He became the leader of UTJ just before the 2026 election, replacing Moshe Gafni

Born in 1965 and raised in Ramat Gan, Asher studied at Mishkan Yaakov and Grodno yeshivas. He is married with seven children and lives in Bnei Brak. He served briefly in the IDF under a program intended for ultra-orthodox integration.

Yitzhak Goldknopf — No. 2

Yitzhak Goldknopf began his career in education and community leadership, working under his father in the Beit Yaakov kindergarten network before taking over its management. He later founded the Beit Pethahia non-profit for special-education institutions, which now includes more than 400 kindergartens.

He also worked in real estate, managed the Union of Torah Institutions and served on the committee of the Talmud Torahs’ association. As secretary of the Committee of Rabbis for the Sanctity of Shabbat, he led campaigns against businesses operating on Shabbat.

In 2022, the Gur Rebbe named him Agudat Yisrael’s central-faction representative, replacing Yaakov Litzman. He entered the Knesset in 2022, became housing minister in the most recent government.

Born in Jerusalem to a Gur Hasidic family, Goldknopf is married with ten children and lives in Jerusalem.

Yitzhak Pindrus — No. 3

Yitzhak Pindrus built his career in local government and public affairs. He advised Moshe Lion in Beit Shemesh before becoming deputy mayor in 1996, then won the mayoralty in 2001 with backing from Lithuanian rabbis and Hasidic courts, serving until 2007.

He later led Degel HaTorah’s Jerusalem faction, served on the city council and held the sanitation and city-appearance portfolio. From 2016 to 2018 he was acting mayor of Jerusalem.

After leaving municipal politics, he became CEO of the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs before entering the Knesset in 2019. Barring several sporadic breaks, he has served in the Knesset ever since.

Born in Jerusalem in 1971 to parents who immigrated from the United States, Pindrus is married with six children and lives in Jerusalem. He is a graduate of Yeshivat Eder Eliyahu.

Meir Porush — No. 4

Meir Porush began his career in public service, effectively succeeding his father, former MK Menachem Porush, in the Knesset in 1996. He served as deputy minister in the Construction and Housing Ministry from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2003.

He later managed Agudat Yisrael’s Jerusalem offices and served 13 years on the city council, including seven as deputy mayor, overseeing city appearance and Haredi education. He ran for Jerusalem mayor in 2008 but lost to Nir Barkat. From 2023-2025, he served as the minister for Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition. He is known for high-profile protests over welfare cuts and yeshiva-student enlistment, including chaining himself to the Knesset podium in 2013.

Born in Jerusalem in 1955, Porush is married with 12 children. His son Israel is the mayor of Elad and another one of his sons, Moshe, runs the family-owned newspaper HaMevaser.

Moshe Rosenthal — No. 5

Moshe Rosenthal is a religious educator and public activist from the Lithuanian Haredi community. He serves as head of the Bnei Brak municipality’s education administration, responsible for the city’s education system and its work with educational institutions, including special education.

He is considered close to the household of Lithuanian community leader Rabbi Dov Landau and is regarded as his representative within Degel HaTorah.

Born in 1975, he is married to Malka and lives in Bnei Brak with their children.

Eliakim Stark — No. 6

Eliyokim Stark is a senior figure in the Belz Hasidic court, regarded as one of the most influential people in its public and political structure. He chairs Belz’s executive and political committees and is considered close to the Belz Rebbe’s son, Rabbi Aharon Mordechai Rokeach.

He manages the Hasidic courts’ political relations, local election campaigns and ties with elected officials, Jewish community leaders and government bodies in Israel and abroad. He also heads a framework for overseas students studying in Jerusalem.

Born in Belgium in 1991, Stark immigrated to Israel and studied in the Hasidic track of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, later serving there as a rabbi. He is married with six children and lives in Jerusalem.

Yehuda Weisfish — No. 7

Yehuda Weisfish is a Haredi educational activist and entrepreneur from the Lithuanian community. He founded, chairs and serves as CEO of the Union of Yeshiva Students, which represents Lithuanian haredi yeshiva students across Israel.

He is considered a central figure in informal education in the yeshiva world and is close to Lithuanian community leader Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

Born in 1985 in Ashdod, Weisfish lives in Modi’in Illit with his wife and children. In 2011, he opened the first internet cafe in Modi’in Illit.