Before submitting the lists to the Central Elections Committee: Political drama is shaking up the United Torah Judaism party, after MK Meir Porush - representative of the Shlomi Emunim faction, and Elyakim Stark - representative of the Belza Hasidic movement, announced that they will run on the unified list under a party completely separate from Agudat Yisrael.
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The party, called the "Wall of Torah Israel," is transforming United Torah Judaism from a union of two parties into a tripartite agreement of three independent factions.
Behind the dramatic step are harsh claims from Shlomi Emunim and Belza about a continuing sense of deprivation, according to which Gur Hasidim - the central faction in Agudat Israel, is delaying budget transfers to their branches across the country.
The move will allow the new faction to directly receive the monthly funding units for its Knesset members - huge budgets of hundreds of thousands of shekels that were previously under Gur's control.
Beyond the economic aspect, the move gives the retiree a completely independent political status, so that any future coalition negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will require a separate meeting with representatives of his new party.
According to reports, this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a well-planned operation that lasted almost a year. For the purpose of the move, an existing shelf party was even purchased, and its name was kept completely discreet until recent days, when it was officially changed to 'Wall of Torah Israel'.
The Degel Hatorah party was informed of the secret of the matter in advance and helped maintain the ambiguity.
The move was met with strong opposition at the finish line from representatives of the Gur Hasidic community, but they ultimately agreed to the move.
