United Torah Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות התורה המאוחדת, Yahadut HaTorah HaMeukhedet; UTJ) is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) political parties in the Knesset. It was first formed in 1992.
The two parties have not always agreed with each other about policy matters. However, over the years they have cooperated and united as a voting bloc in order to win the maximum number of seats in the Knesset, since many extra votes can be wasted if election thresholds are not attained under Israel's proportional representation parliamentary system.
When UTJ joined Ariel Sharon's coalition in 2004 it split into its two constituent factions of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel. Before the 2006 election, Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel agreed to revive their alliance under the banner of United Torah Judaism to not waste votes and achieve maximum representation in the 17th Knesset.
The two factions again united for the 18th Knesset elections in 2009. The bloc won five mandates, a loss of one seat.
Read more about United Torah Judaism: Ideology, Formation of The Party, 2004 Split, Reunification As A Party, 2006 Unity
Famous quotes containing the words united and/or judaism:
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“Christianity is the religion of melancholy and hypochondria. Islam, on the other hand, promotes apathy, and Judaism instills its adherents with a certain choleric vehemence, the heathen Greeks may well be called happy optimists.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)