Knesset exit, Haredi education, and a Channel 14 clash
Elazar Stern resigns with a blistering letter; Yoav Kisch defends core studies in Haredi schools before the High Court.
Knesset exit, Haredi education, and a Channel 14 clash — Elazar Stern submitted his resignation from the Knesset on Monday afternoon (September 7, 2026), delivering a harsh letter to Speaker Amir Ohana that accused him of turning "the Speaker's chair into incitement, division, and discord."[^1] The departure of Stern, a former general and centrist MK, removes one of the chamber's more vocal critics of the coalition's religious-secular policies. His letter did not mince words, framing the Speaker's tenure as a force for fragmentation rather than parliamentary order. Meanwhile, Education Minister Yoav Kisch told the High Court of Justice that he sees "no problem with core studies in Haredi schools," signaling a shift in the government's legal stance on the long-running dispute over secular curriculum in ultra-Orthodox institutions.[^2] The statement comes as a new poll shows a majority of Israelis want the government to refuse Haredi demands on religion-and-state policies, suggesting a gap between public sentiment and coalition maneuvering.[^3] Elsewhere, a fierce confrontation erupted on Channel 14's "HaPatriotim" program between Rabbi Shlomo Benizri and others over Adina Bar-Shalom's handshake with Gadi Eisenkot, highlighting the cultural fault lines within the religious-Zionist camp.[^4] And Yoaz Hendl and the Reservists' Party petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Central Elections Committee's decision, keeping the polling station saga alive.[^5] The day's events, taken together, depict a political system fraying along multiple seams — personal, institutional, and ideological — with no single fracture yet dominant. Prosecution appeals, fraternal murder, and cigarette smuggling across Israel's crime beat — The State Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal today to the Supreme Court against the sentence of Ziv Chen (Zaur Khanakishvili), who was convicted of violently robbing an 87-year-old woman in Ramat Gan. The prosecution is seeking to significantly increase his sentence, arguing that it does not reflect the severity of the act, and citing his heavy criminal record, which includes 10 prior convictions. Attorney Hai Haver, representing Chen, stated t