Yitzchak Pindrus was headed for Anglo advocacy until the Knesset called him back

Photos: Elchanan Kotler, Mishpacha archives

When the Israeli-Anglo advocacy organization Chaim V’Chessed brought MK Yitzchak Pindrus on board, it wasn’t just to add another name to the masthead. An English speaker with American parents, deep familiarity with the immigrant experience, and a savvy bridge to the halls of power, Pindrus understood the frustrations Anglos face navigating Israeli bureaucracy. Then politics intervened — and the Knesset called him back

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.

This did not, however, mean that Yitzchak Pindrus was about to abandon his public service for the Anglo community.

“Reb Yitzchak has been with us in various capacities since our organization’s founding ten years ago,” says Chaim V’Chessed CEO Rabbi Paysach Freedman, “and when the political alteration happened in the summer, we knew that he was the natural person to bring in to what we’ve built, due to his experience, national recognition, and deep understanding of the Anglo community, where he has his own roots.”

Even so, neither Freedman nor Pindrus — both seasoned observers of Israeli politics — could have anticipated the speed at which the winds in Jerusalem would shift.

The post He Speaks Your Language    first appeared on Mishpacha Magazine.