UTJ: We Will Continue to Work With Netanyahu

In a statement, United Torah Judaism said Friday that it continues to support the Likud and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and would continue to do so in the future. “Unlike what news stories that have been published in recent days have implied, our partnership with the Likud and Netanyahu will continue after the next elections as well,” the party said.

The “news stories” referred to appeared in Maariv on Thursday. According to the report, a “figure close to Rabbanim had received permission from them to pursue the arrangement. Under the deal, Gantz would have committed his party to accepting the compromise on the draft law that had been approved by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah as recommended by the Likud.”

The chareidi parties agreed to the arrangement, on condition that Gantz commit to his promise of supporting the draft compromise in a letter – and that Yair Lapid, Blue and White’s number two and eventual prime minister candidate, due to his rotation agreement with Gantz would also commit to the deal.

Sources in Blue and White said they would try, the report said, but told the chareidi parties that “Lapid will never sign onto such a document.”

Last week, Blue and White top MK Moshe Yaalon said that if his party hoped to do better in the September election, it needed to do something to repair its relationship with the chareidim. Yaalon is number three on the Blue and White list. The problem for the party has been its number two, Yair Lapid, with whom chareidi parties said they would not work with in any coalition.

Speaking to Reshet Bet, Yaalon said that the party realized that this was the reason it had been unable to establish a coalition after the March elections, but added that “I cannot accept the basic premise that we cannot reach a result that will allow us to set up a coalition,” he said. “We will arrive at a situation in which everyone, including the chareidim, understand that we will be establishing the coalition.”