MK Yisrael Eichler, of the Agudas Yisrael faction of Yahadut Hatorah was elected to the committee to appoint dayanim. Eichler was vying for the slot against MK Moshe Gafne of the Degel Hatorah faction of the chareidi party. Earlier in the week Gafne announced that he was withdrawing his name from the race.
The appointment represents a personal victory for Eichler, who succeeded in enlisting the required support. Gafne realized he has a slim chance at best of being elected for the slot prior to bowing out of the race.
The slot on the committee widened the split between the chassidish and litvish factions of the Ashkenazi party as Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita this week instructed Gafne to do his best to get the slot and simultaneously, the Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael of Agudas Yisrael sent the same message to Eichler.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
What the article does not mention is that UTJ seems to have pulled a dirty trick on its coalition partners. In order to ensure Eichler’s appointment, UTJ voted for Labor’s candidate instead of the Likud’s candidate and in return it received Labor’s votes for Eichler in addition to the votes of the coalition members.