Yitzchak Pindrus was headed for Anglo advocacy until the Knesset called him back
Photos: Elchanan Kotler, Mishpacha archives
IT definitely competed for one of Israel’s shortest organizational appointments.
I was traveling with Rabbi Yitzchak Pindrus, who just the week before had publicly signed on as the senior government liaison to the Israeli-Anglo advocacy organization Chaim V’Chessed. I was hoping the drive would be a good opportunity for a bit of chit-chat with someone who had served as mayor of Beitar Illit, spent years on the Jerusalem City Council, and who’d been a Knesset member on and off since 2019.
Although he missed the cut in the 2022 elections by one seat on the Agudah-Degel HaTorah (UTJ) slate, Pindrus reentered the Knesset in January 2023 because of something called the “Norwegian Law,” whereby a member of Knesset who is appointed to a ministerial post vacates his parliamentary seat, which is then filled by the next candidate on the party’s list. When Agudah MK Yitzchak Goldknopf was appointed Minister of Housing and Construction, Pindrus was back in; but when UTJ exited the coalition this past summer over the draft law, the ministerial posts were forfeited and Goldknopf returned to his seat — forcing Pindrus out of parliament once again.
That’s when Chaim V’Chessed began to woo him — and on January 7, he publicly agreed to the position of government liaison. And now, here I was, for an inside conversation about his new role. But what I failed to factor in was that that very afternoon, MK Yisrael Eichler was appointed deputy communications minister (even though UTJ officially remains in the opposition, but that was a Bibi magic trick), once again freeing up a seat and putting Pindrus back in the Knesset.
Create a free account to keep reading.
