Who they are
Yaffe was born in Haifa in 1976 and trained as a teacher at Gateshead Seminary. She taught history at Beit Hamorah in Jerusalem and completed a Hebrew University doctorate in 2017. She held a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton, then joined Tel Aviv University. She became a National Security Council adviser on Haredi affairs in 2020.
Positions and record
Haredi service: Called in October 2024 for military and civilian service routes adapted to Haredi religious life.
Employment: Called in October 2024 for state programmes to close men’s gaps in English and maths and help them enter skilled work.
Childcare: Opposed removing daycare subsidies to press Haredi men to enlist, saying this harms working women and children; argued in October 2024 that enforcement should address the men directly.
Core education: Said in September 2023 that the state must guarantee every child a basic education, including core subjects, even where communities oppose it.
Where they stand
Holds the party line on every issue.
Judea & Samariaparty lineRuns on the haredi sector's own questions, not on the West Bank
Two states / withdrawalSovereignty / annexation
Gaza & Securityparty lineIt has published nothing on the war or the hostages
Deal & disengagementFull military control
Haredi Enlistmentparty lineAbsolute protection for a young man learning all day, service for everyone else
Universal draftPreserve exemptions
Judiciaryparty lineIt has taken no position on the courts
Court can strike lawsKnesset can override
Economyparty lineTraining, civil-service affirmative action and housing supply, with no wider fiscal line
Social spendingFree market
Educationparty lineHaredi schools stay independent, with maths and English taught inside them
State runs the schoolsParents and communities
Religion & Stateparty lineRuns on the sector's own institutions, not on the state's religion policy
Civil / pluralistReligious authority
Nation & Citizenshipparty lineIt has taken no position on citizenship or the state's Jewish character
Equal citizenshipJewish national state
