Yisrael Eichler Explained

Birth Date:27 March 1955
Birth Place:Jerusalem, Israel
Suboffice1:United Torah Judaism
Subterm1:2003–2005
Suboffice2:Agudat Yisrael
Subterm2:2005
Suboffice3:United Torah Judaism
Subterm3:2011–2019
Suboffice4:Agudat Yisrael
Subterm4:2019
Suboffice5:United Torah Judaism
Subterm5:2019–

Yisrael Eichler (; born 27 March 1955) is an Israeli politician. A member of Agudat Yisrael, he served as a member of the Knesset for the party and the United Torah Judaism alliance from 2003 until 2005, and again since 2011.

Biography

Born in Jerusalem, Eichler worked as an author and journalist. He became editor of the Haredi newspaper HaMahane HaHaredi in 1980, and in 1996 he became chairman of the Centre for Jewish Publicity.

In 2003, he was elected to the Knesset on the United Torah Judaism list, an alliance of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah. The alliance split in January 2005 and Eichler resigned from the Knesset on 23 February that year; his seat was taken by Shmuel Halpert.

As part of a seat rotation agreement within United Torah Judaism, Eichler returned to the Knesset on 6 February 2011 as a replacement for Meir Porush.[1] He served as parliamentary group chairman until 2013. He was re-elected in the 2013 elections, and was placed sixth on the UTJ list for the 2015 elections,[2] retaining his seat again as the party won six seats. Following a Supreme Court ruling that public mikveh facilities must allow use by followers of Conservative and Reform Judaism in February 2016, he compared non-Orthodox Jews to the "mentally ill".[3]

Personal

Eichler is married and has 14 children. He lives in Jerusalem.[4]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/MKIndex_Current_eng.asp?view=5 Current Knesset Members of the Eighteenth Knesset: Replacements Among Knesset Members
  2. http://www.bechirot20.gov.il/election/Candidates/Pages/OneListCandidates.aspx?LPF=Search&WebId=6adadc15-e476-480b-9746-04490aedeb0f&ListID=ba72a662-765c-45af-9d48-fb68080956af&ItemID=44&FieldID=ListNickname_GxS_Text United Torah Judaism list
  3. http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/334140/ultra-orthodox-lawmaker-compares-reform-jews-to-mentally-ill/ Ultra-Orthodox Lawmaker Compares Reform Jews to Mentally Ill
  4. https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=754 Israel Eichler