Yaakov Asher bids farewell to Gafni - and stings Ben Gvir and Smotrich: "This is not an etrog"

At the Degel HaTorah convention ahead of the elections, incoming chairman Yaakov Asher bid farewell to Moshe Gafni, who was ousted from the list, attacked Smotrich and Ben Gvir for prioritizing their own public over cooperation, and called for unity within the party.

At a convention of the Degel HaTorah party ahead of the Knesset elections, incoming chairman Yaakov Asher bid farewell to his predecessor Moshe Gafni, who was ousted from the list. Asher delivered a speech in which he attacked Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, saying that "they tried to speak nicely, but in the end they took care of their own public, not ours." He also criticized the "change bloc" and claimed that despite the mutual disrespect among its leaders, they know how to cooperate against Benjamin Netanyahu. Asher called for unity within the party: "Where is our public... we need to unite and act for the sake of Torah Judaism." Gafni himself delivered a farewell speech, emphasizing the importance of Torah scholars in Israeli public life, alongside a call not to abandon those far from the world of Torah. Asher praised Gafni, calling him "a tremendous symbol of appreciation and admiration," and said that if he were not Haredi, he would already be prime minister.