MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) will be the next chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, the party's five MKs decided today. He beat party chairman and former Finance Committee chairman MK Yakov Litzman for the post. Litzman has been expected to get it back.
The upset occurred during the internal party voting, when MK Meir Porush, a member of the Agudat Israel faction of the party, backed Gafni, a member of the Degel Hatorah faction of the party. When the voting was over, Litzman stormed out of the room.
Officially, Porush said that his decision to tip the vote in favor of Gafni was because it was Degel Hatorah's turn to have first pick for the post, which until now was always held by the Agudat Israel faction of the party.
Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism signed a coalition agreement with the Likud, under which it will receive two deputy minister positions at the Ministries of Health and Education.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 1, 2009
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