Ravitz, of the Degel HaTorah (Torah Flag) faction of United Torah Judaism, made the announcement in a statement published in Thursday’s Yated Ne’eman hareidi-sector daily newspaper. Ravitz thus joins Ehud Olmert, Yossi Beilin, and Ran Cohen on the list of prominent MKs who are not running for a seat in the coming elections.

Ravitz, 74, has served in the Knesset since 1988, serving on many Knesset committees over his career. He was also Chairman of the Finance Committee for a short while, and is currently on the Foreign Affairs/Defense and Labor/Welfare/Health Committees.

Ravitz's governmental roles included Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction (twice), Deputy Minister of Education, and Deputy Minister of Social Affairs.

Ravitz is married and has 12 children – some of whom became famous some years ago when they “fought” each other for the privilege of donating him a kidney when he required one. In the end, his eldest son, Moshe, a rabbi in the Nehora Yeshiva, received the privilege of donating the kidney.

Ravitz is credited with initiating the construction of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in Jerusalem as a partial solution to the hareidi public’s housing crisis. The city of Elad, near Rosh HaAyin, and the hareidi neighborhood in Beit Shemesh are also partially credited to him.

Who Will Replace Him?
The final list of Knesset candidates for the United Torah Judaism has not yet been compiled by the Council of Torah Sages. For the past several elections, the lists of the party’s two factions – Degel HaTorah and the more Hassidic Agudat Yisrael – are compiled separately and are then merged into one.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1934, Rabbi Ravitz studied in the famed Hevron Yeshiva, where he received his rabbinic ordination, and fought in both the Lechi and the IDF. In the 1950’s and 60’s, he was very active in the Yad LeAchim organization, teaching children in the new immigrant camps.