In Israel
The Moetzet (usually transliterated with an ending "t") of Agudat Yisrael likewise constitutes the Israeli Ashkenazic haredi community's religious policy leadership, and exercises strong control over political matters for strongly observant Israelis, such as joining government coalitions.
Prior to Degel HaTorah's late 1980s break from Agudat Israel (because of the dominance of the Hasidic groups), there was only one Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Israel. With the breakaway (led by Rabbi Elazar Shach), two separate, yet at times complementary, councils were created.
The Haredi Sephardi Jews of Israel had also at one time followed the leadership of the Moetzet of Agudat Yisrael when it was still a body that spoke for most of Israel's Haredim. Eventually, however, the Haredi Sefardim broke with their Ashkenazi counterparts and established the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah ("Council of Torah Sages"), which in turn became the source for the formulation and expression of the policies and agenda of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef became the main leadership figure of this council.
Read more about this topic: Moetzes Gedolei Ha Torah
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