The Knesset's House Committee approved Thursday morning the split between the Chassidish Agudath Israel and the Lithuanian Degel HaTorah groups, which formerly made up the United Torah Judaism party.
The split comes ten days before the deadline for submission of party Knesset lists.� The primary source of conflict was apparently the sixth spot on the UTJ roster, a spot that traditionally goes to an Agudath Israel representative. However, Degel HaTorah has demanded the spot for one of their own, since polls suggest that the seventh slot on the list is not guaranteed to be realistic.
According to the UTJ constitution, the sixth and sevenths slots are to be rotated between the two groups. However, since the Israeli government in recent years has not been able to last a full term, Degel HaTorah officials are concerned that the rotation might not be put into effect.
Degel HaTorah leader MK Rabbi Avraham Ravitz confirmed the split Thursday, saying, "We've already started to set up headquarters under the assumption that we have no partners. We are responsible people. We would rather go together, but we will not be dictated to."
"We are not talking to deaf people � people who only want to talk and don't want to listen. We have guidelines and we have demands � we must change the order of the representatives in the party and the manner in which positions are selected. If they take our demands seriously, we can have it over with in an hour, but when this hour will come, I do not know," Rabbi Ravitz added.
An Agudath Israel source confirmed the split as well, saying, "We keep reaching out to keep the unity and peace, but if they insist on splitting, they will have to live with the consequences."
The Agudath Israel central committee is scheduled to convene on Thursday to elect the party's representatives ahead of the Knesset elections. The vote is a matter of formality; the list is expected to include, in the following order, MK Yakov Litzman, MK Meir Porush, Rabbi Eliezer Moses and Yisrael Eichler.
(YWN Israel Bureau)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=27413
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