Yitzhak Goldknopf, who heads the Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism list, attacked Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu)'s statement that he will not fund haredi institutions in which the core curriculum is not studied.
Liberman's statement referred to a situation in which, following the November elections, he remains in his position as Finance Minister
"Liberman wants to know the core curriculum - but he really doesn't know how to say my name correctly," Goldknopf told Kol Hai Radio. "We study the core curriculum. ... Liberman wants to decide for us what we study. He came with the daycare law and hurt the wives of yeshiva students, who work in hi-tech and contribute to the country, and no one said anything."
"The public which learns Torah and observes the Sabbath is a public which protects and protected the nation of Israel throughout all the generations."
Regarding the migration of some of his party's voters to Religious Zionism, Goldknopf said, "We did a poll with the Rafi Smith Institute regarding how many haredim vote for [Otzma Yehudit chair MK Itamar] Ben-Gvir. It's not even one percent. Those who walk around with him are youth who have no voting rights. The public votes according to the instructions sages of Israel, without any connection to the candidates on the list."
"I did not say that I want the Finance Ministry," he added. "I said that according to our relative strength, we might deserve it. Will I serve in the Finance Ministry? That depends on the decision of the Torah sages."