Ten Politicians of the year

It is nearly impossible to make exact ratings, such that everyone will agree with. Nevertheless, as part of the project "A Year in Perspective I took upon myself the task of drawing up a list of ratings of “the men of the year” in the Hareidi world, in a widespread project that will be publicized by B’Chadrei Chareidim in parts over the last few weeks of the year.

In the first chapter, we will deal with those whose names are repeated over and over in the Haredi media, the Haredi representatives in the Knesset and the government. We will try to explain our choice of rating and grading, and to surprise every once in a while with an interesting insight summarizing the year and not only insights regarding the past week or two.

Those who didn’t make it onto the list: Meshulem Nahari (on the one hand Deputy Minister of the Interior, on the other hand- why don’t we heard anything from you?), Yoav Ben-Tzur (Chairman of Shas, active member of the Knesset, and yet doesn’t really stand out), Itzik Cohen (Deputy Minister of Finance, yet his work on Hareidi issues is somewhat controversial), Moses (Train to Meron, and that’s it), Vaknin (Chairman of the Ethics Committee and soon to be Knesset pensioner).

10. Yaakov Asher
Position: MK of the Yahadut HaTorah party
Analysis for grading: The fact that he joined only after half of the Knesset year was over, does not play in the bulldozer’s favor, yet, it is easy to rule with certainty that in the overall grading of the upcoming year, we will find him much higher up on the list.
Prominent achievements and important facts: The organization and success of the Degel HaTorah Committee until its joining the Knesset, his ongoing struggle for the sake of finding a solution to the housing problems.

9. David Azulai
Position: MK of the Shas party and Minister of Religious Services.
Analysis for grading: Shas’s continuing failure in appointing Rabbis is in his “merit”, the success in appointing Dayanim, which is also a relative success when speaking of Shas, the Chairman of Shas claims. In his merit, it will be mentioned that his hands are somewhat tied and he doesn’t have much independence, yet he has almost disappeared, and the common evaluation is that in the next elections he will be crossed off the list, possibly to benefit one of his advisors.
Prominent achievements and important facts: None that I remember.

8. Yigal Guetta
Position: MK of the Shas party
The analysis for grading: Shas’s big mouth was brought to the Knesset as the bulldog who isn’t afraid of scuffles, and came out again and again on the upper hand, until the PM himself asked Deri “get him off his back”. A week after he joined the Knesset he already made a strong impression and hit the headlines, and probably by the next listing he will have climbed to the top, and so will his political position.
Prominent achievements and important facts: Adidas shoes, the struggle over the figures on the bills and the Rami Sedan protest.

7. Yisrael Eichler
Position: MK and Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee
Reason for grading: Like his colleague Moses, Eichler is one of the two Aguda MKs who didn’t get appointed to significant positions, and nevertheless managed to bring success to a certain extent to the committee at the head of which he stands, to uphold discussions on many topics concerning the private citizen, and on the way to be in control of his never-ending struggles against those who oppose our religion.
Prominent achievements and important facts: His efforts concerning day children day care and the Women of the Wall (נשות הכותל), his membership in the Committee for Appointing Dayanim.

6. Uri Maklev
Position: MK of the Yahadut HaTorah party and Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee.
Analysis for grading: He does everything quietly but is famous for being the right person to turn to with a petition of any sort. For years now Maklev has built up a rare reputation in politics, as a person uninvolved in battles and personal gain, busy realizing the full meaning of being an emissary of the public. Probably the only one who a listing like this doesn’t interest him in the least, may he always continue to be that way.
Prominent achievements and important facts: His name has been publicized over the past week as the one who covertly managed the Shabbat issue throughout the past months facing the relevant government offices, he is in the lead when listing those active in the Knesset.

5. Yaakov Margi
Position: MK and Chairman of the Education Committee
Analysis for grading: In pace as the natural 2nd in the management of Shas and an up and coming Minister, Margi has been pushed aside to the seemingly unimportant position of Chairman of Education Committee. Nonetheless, he overtook all his colleagues in Shas other than the Chairman, ran a long list of struggles against discrimination in acceptance of children into schools, including the conflict facing Haifa’s Mayor Yona Yahav, he placed himself as the voice of the Shas public and the spokesman for the working Haredim. Perhaps the only one Deri will have a hard time giving up, despite the political background.
Prominent achievements and important facts: His struggle against discrimination, the diplomatic fallout following the visit to Ukraine, his support of the Liba learning program.

4. Yaakov Litzman
Position: MK of the Yahadut HaTorah party and Minister of Health
Reason for grading: true, in the popularity rating among the MKs he holds first place for a year now, but this is because of his good relations with the general population and his dealing with issues such as cannabis and MRIs, and later on, the reformation of nursing insurance and the Coffix revolution in the hospitals which turned him into a celebrity in the non-religious media. On the other hand, in the Haredi world, his name has become sullied by credit struggles and deals while lacking in straightforward acting on behalf of his voters. True, the Health Ministry needs to be taken seriously but so do other positions.
Prominent achievements and important facts: Cannabis, MRIs, nursing insurance reform, food prices in hospitals, the publicity of his helpers’ cell phone numbers, his involvement in the Haifa dispute and the air pollution in the city, the exchange of child benefit money into savings plans, the increase in dental health care ages, and the ongoing struggle with Lapid.

3. Meir Porush
Position: Deputy Minister of Education from the Yahadut HaTorah party
Analysis for grading: Although he is not counted as one of the three “Heads of Party”, but from the four Aguda MKs he was the only one to respond maturely to the implementation of the “Norwegian Law” and the reconciliation with their sister party “Degel”. Bennet declares in every public speech that he is his efficient deputy and he coordinates the Haredi education with his own two hands- and the result can be seen. Not everything is perfect, but if you ask the principals of the institutions they will answer that they rather he stays on in this position. However, less involvement trying to find jobs for his friends and relatives- will improve his standing.
Prominent achievements and important facts: The Shlomei Emunim Committee, the implementation of the “Norwegian Law”, the annulment of Lapid’s Liba program.

2. Aryeh Deri
Position: MK of the Shas party, Minister of the Interior, of the Peripheries, the Negev, and the Galil
Analysis for grading: buckets of criticism are poured over Deri’s head practically every day, and yet his fans agree that this is not the same Aryeh as of his first term. However, the man signs discounts on public transportation, water bills, and electricity bills, on hundreds of millions of shekel that flowed to the peripheries, to the yeshivot and even to camps, Haredi Dayanim elected, affirmative action for the Haredim who want to work in government positions and full control over a party that almost disintegrated the last term.
Prominent achievements and important facts: discounts on public transportation, reconciliation attempts within the Sfardi leadership, the election of Dayanim, the opening and the probable closure of the investigation against him, the move from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of the Interior (as reported by B’Chadrei), affirmative action for the Hareidim in government offices.

1. Moshe Gafni
Position: MK of the Yahadut HaTorah party and Chairman of the Finance Committee
Analysis for grading: It seems that regardless of what happens, Gafni is the authentic voice of the Haredi public. In any struggle on Hareidi issues, enlistment or Shabbat, Kotel or Dayanim, his name will be a prominent one in the media, Hareidi and general, as the flagbearer. He spends hours in unimportant discussions and panels on credit struggles, what interests him is the headline in the Yated proclaiming a new budget for Avreichim. The man who brought the position of Chairman of the Finance Committee up to one of the important and influential positions in the State of Israel, perhaps the only one who subdued the treasury representatives time and again and an example of what Haredi-Yeshivish representation in the Knesset should be (characterized also by his ability to fight).
Prominent achievements and important facts: In addition to the budgets for yeshivot and the cancellation of the enlistment law, which are accredited to all the Hareidi MKs, it is hard to find a Hareidi issue solved that wasn’t at least partly in Gafni’s credit.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!