According to ultra-Orthodox party Yahadut HaTorah Knesset member Moshe Gafni, the two new stars on Israel’s political horizon — Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid and HaBayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett — are the worst thing that ever happened to the ultra-Orthodox public in Israel from time immemorial. Between the two of them, Gafni picks the kipa-wearing HaBayit HaYehudi leader as the worst of the two, and accuses him of “hypocrisy and treachery” toward ultra-Orthodox society.
The past years in the coalition were good years for the ultra-Orthodox community but Gafni, a Yahadut HaTorah member, knows that stormy skies await. In less than two weeks, he and his compatriots in the Knesset will lose their positions of influence in the government and in the Knesset’s more prestigious committees. Yes, very soon Gafni will be forced to part from his tenure as chairman of the Knesset’s finance committee, a role that represented the height of his parliamentary career.