Yitzhak Issachar Goldknopf (; born 30 October 1950) is an Israeli politician who serves as the leader of

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael (; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement ...

and as the leader of the

United Torah Judaism United Torah Judaism (, ''Yahadut HaTora'') is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, was first formed in 1992, in order to maximize Ashkenazi Haredi repr ...

party, following the resignation of

Yaakov Litzman Yaakov Noach Litzman (; born 2 September 1948) is an American-born Israeli politician and former government minister. A follower of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, he heads Agudat Yisrael, part of the United Torah Judaism alliance, in the Knesset. He ...

. He also serves as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for Agudat YIsrael, and previously served as the Minister of Housing and Construction between 2022 and 2025 He previously served as a member of the Jerusalem City Council.

Biography

Goldknopf was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to Malka and Yehuda, a follower of the Ger

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

dynasty. Goldknopf is married, and has ten children. Goldknopf is CEO of the Beit Yaakov and Beit Petahia kindergartens and daycare centers, which he inherited from his father.

Political career

Goldknopf is a member of

's national committee. He was elected to the Jerusalem City Council in 2003. Yaakov Aryeh Alter,

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

of the Ger dynasty, appointed Goldknopf to replace

as leader of Agudat Yisrael in June 2022. Goldknopf was additionally assigned the first spot on the party's

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

ahead of the 2022 election, and was elected to the

25th Knesset The members of the 25th Knesset were elected on 1 November 2022 and sworn in on 15 November. Composition One Druze lawmaker, 29 women, 23 new MKs and three openly gay MKs were elected to the 25th Knesset. The number of Arab MKs was the lowest ...

. He was appointed Minister of Housing and Construction on 29 December 2022, and resigned his seat on 6 January 2023, as part of the Norwegian Law. He is well-known in the religious community because of his position as chair of the "Committee for the Sanctity of the Sabbath". The committee has fought for restrictions in the Israeli public space, including a campaign that forced

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

to stop flying on Saturdays. Goldknopf intervened in a highly publicized spat in 2022 between the Ger leadership and Knesset member

Meir Porush Meir Porush (; born 11 June 1955) is an Israeli politician who has served as a member of the Knesset for the Haredi Agudat Yisrael faction of United Torah Judaism in several spells since 1996. He served as the Deputy Minister of Education. Biog ...

, who accused them of undermining his bid for

Mayor of Jerusalem The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusal ...

. He was filmed in March 2025 dancing at a wedding to an anti-Zionist

Neturei Karta Neturei Karta () is a List of Jewish anti-Zionist organizations, Jewish anti-Zionist organization that advocates Palestinian nationalism. Founded by and for Haredim and Zionism, Haredi Jews opposed to Zionism, it is primarily active in parts o ...

song about Haredi draft evasion. He subsequently apologized and responded that it was a family wedding and he did not approve of the song, but did not want to offend the groom's family. Party leaders

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general. He served as a Minister without portfolio#Israel, minister without portfolio from 2023 to 2024, as the Ministry of Defense (Israel), minister of defense bet ...

Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician of the centrist Yesh Atid party and a former journalist who has been the Leader of the Opposition (Israel), Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, having previously served in t ...

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...

, and

Bezalel Smotrich Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (; born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. The leader of the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism, he previously served as a Kn ...

condemned the incident, as did former prime minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett (, ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician and businessman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the alternate prime minister from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was t ...

. After the failure to pass a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

exemption bill for a majority of

Haredi Jewish Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

men, he announced his resignation on 12 June 2025 from his ministry in Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, and returned to the Knesset per the Norwegian Law.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldknopf, Yitzhak 1950 births Living people Agudat Yisrael politicians Politicians from Jerusalem Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Rabbinic members of the Knesset City councillors of Jerusalem