The office of United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher said that no instructions have been issued on coalition negotiations, and that the chareidi party has not yet consulted the gedolim since Israel's election. Asher has made any decision on the party's political future conditional on approval from its rabbinical leadership.
Waiting for the gedolim
Asher: UTJ Awaits Gedolim on Coalition
UTJ has given no coalition instructions • The party has not consulted the gedolim since the election
The statement follows a Channel 12 report on Thursday that UTJ officials were examining a minority government led by Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot. Under that framework, UTJ would stay outside the coalition but would neither vote against the government nor block its legislation. A government could then stand without a 61-seat majority.
The report indicated that some UTJ figures fear a broad unity coalition could leave the chareidi parties out of government altogether, with no say over yeshiva funding, religious affairs or legislation affecting the Torah community.
The calculations cited in the report put Netanyahu's bloc at 46 votes in such a scenario, against 48 for a bloc led by Eisenkot. The report added that Eisenkot could also rely on Ra'am's eight MKs if he chose to.
A UTJ source quoted in the Channel 12 report spoke openly of frustration with the alliance with Netanyahu. "We won't get anything from Netanyahu. Our alliance with him has been exhausted, certainly in a case where there aren't 61 votes," the source said. "Our interest is to once again be a decisive power in the Knesset." The source warned of the alternative: "If a unity government is formed, there's a chance we'll go into the wilderness, the desert of the opposition. Not for this were we elected."
Asher rejected the report outright. "There have been no feelers, no talks, and no contacts," he said. He added that no contacts would take place and no initiative would move forward until the party consults the gedolim and receives their instructions.
The only outreach UTJ has acknowledged came from the prime minister's camp. On Wednesday, people close to Netanyahu told UTJ representatives that he intends to keep his existing alliances intact. "We wish to clarify that there have been no approaches from party leaders, apart from a message conveyed by people close to Prime Minister Netanyahu indicating that he intends to keep the coalition parties together," Asher's office said.
Ynet reported that UTJ is considering abstaining if a vote to remove Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud comes before the new Knesset. During the campaign, UTJ MK Yitzhak Pindrus told the chareidi newspaper Mishpacha: "The government failed because Amir Ohana was Knesset speaker. It was a desecration of God's name." UTJ has not announced any intention to leave Netanyahu's bloc.
Any arrangement with Eisenkot would run into the draft. Eisenkot has advocated broader military service requirements, while Asher has said UTJ will not join or back any government that fails to pass acceptable legislation on the status of bochurim.
Asher told UTJ's election-night gathering in Bnei Brak that "the Torah won" and said he would not address coalition scenarios until the final count was in.
