Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman dropped a political bombshell Friday, announcing he is prepared to abandon his longstanding refusal to sit with the chareidi parties and to compromise with them on the draft law.
A source in United Torah Judaism told Walla that the party is seriously considering joining a government with the "change bloc" if an agreement on the draft law can be reached. The statement follows Liberman's declaration that he is willing to compromise on the issue in order to form a government without Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We're not very surprised. Since the elections we've been hearing the talk. We've been speaking with people in the change bloc, we understood where this was going," the source said.
According to the source, the party is willing to go with the opposition bloc and join a government it leads, on condition that an agreement on the draft law is reached. "If they give us a draft law we'll go with them. Absolutely. That's the most important thing right now. When that gets freed up the budgets will get freed up too. We're in politics and in politics you do what needs to be done."
In addition, according to the report, the chareidi parties are receiving phone calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and people in his circle, in an attempt to prevent them from joining a government led by Gadi Eisenkot. The calls include promises on the draft law, in an effort to convince the chareidi parties not to join the rival bloc.
In his statement, Liberman wrote: "On all other issues it is permitted and desirable to be flexible and to compromise and to understand that if you grasp too much, you grasp nothing. This includes the issue of the draft law as well. It pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But in light of the array of challenges we are dealing with today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the people of Israel must stand above every other consideration."
