Haredim running on Eisenkot the play they ran on Livni

Political analyst Amit Segal published a sharp analysis on Friday of the recent days' leaks about United Torah Judaism's willingness to support a minority government led by Gadi Eisenkot. According to him, it is a sophisticated chareidi move to rebuild legitimacy, not a real intention.

"All the rumors and leaks about a government of Eisenkot, his partners and United Torah Judaism are a sophisticated and very nice move by the chareidim to rebuild their legitimacy after they were the scapegoat in recent years," he wrote. He added that "it will also 'whiten' their partnership with Likud down the road."

He sharply attacked media figures promoting the story. "[We know] that they're smart. That Drucker and his friends are complete fools who are now promoting surrender to the haredim without understanding that they are a tool in the game -also not new," he noted.

Segal expressed particular surprise at Gadi Eisenkot's position. "I am only surprised about Eisenkot. Does he not understand that they're doing the same thing to him that they did to Tzipi Livni in 2009?" he asked.

Analyst Zion Nanos also joined the criticism and compared the move to the 1990 'Stinking Maneuver.' "The leaks about United Torah Judaism's willingness to support a change government in exchange for a softened draft law look to me like a sting operation in the style of the 'Stinking Maneuver' in 1990," he wrote.

Nanos explained what he believes is the goal: "To cause the heads of the change bloc to come down from one of their central principles, to blow up the contacts at the last moment and go to another election with the heads of the change bloc presented as opportunists exactly like Bibi."

These assessments come against the backdrop of intensive contacts in recent days to form a minority government with abstention by United Torah Judaism. According to reports, senior figures in the change bloc are trying to engineer a move in which United Torah Judaism would give a safety net to Eisenkot in exchange for an agreed draft law and regulation of the status of yeshiva students.

Yaakov Asher, Gadi Eisenkot and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Kikar Hashabbat, Chaim Goldberg and Avshalom Shoshani - Flash 90)

Senior figures in United Torah Judaism confirmed that conversations are indeed taking place through intermediaries, but the chances of such a move are considered extremely slim. The main unknown in the political equation is the position of Avigdor Lieberman, who made clear on Thursday: "We won't sit with Bibi and not with Tibi, not with Goldknopf and not with Deri."

On the other hand, rosh yeshiva HaGaon Rav Dov Lando gave a clear instruction to Degel HaTorah's Knesset members: to open talks also with the change bloc, with the goal of regulating the status of yeshiva students. "Make every effort to regulate the status of yeshiva students, we are not in anyone's bloc, we are in the bloc of the Torah world," the rosh yeshiva made clear.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held separate meetings on Thursday with Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, in which they discussed moves to prevent the formation of a left-wing government. The meetings come against the backdrop of concern in the right-wing camp about the crystallizing political move.

In the change bloc there are fears that United Torah Judaism will flee at the moment of truth, and therefore they are testing loyalty. The central question is whether Avigdor Lieberman will agree to lean on the haredim and sacrifice the draft issue. A senior source in Yisrael Beiteinu told Kikar Hashabbat that "Lieberman made clear yesterday that the first law in any government he is a partner in will be a draft law for everyone."