Energy Minister Eli Cohen (Likud) warned the chareidi parties on Tuesday against negotiating with the opposition. He called the change bloc “a fraud” that would abandon its chareidi partners as soon as it replaced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking to Srugim correspondent Yossi Ben Attar in the Knesset corridors, Cohen called for a national unity government and brushed off reports that the opposition is talking to the chareidi factions about a compromise on the draft law.
“This is the legislature of the Jewish people, and it must have at least 61 members who support and identify with the State of Israel,” Cohen said. “Given the challenges we face, now is the time to establish a national unity government.”
He saved his sharpest words for the opposition’s reported outreach to the chareidim. “After everything they’ve said over the past four years and their slogans before the election, this isn’t a change bloc, it’s a fraud bloc,” he said. “For the good of the country, we cannot rely on those who are a fifth column within Israel. We need a government that will protect the Land of Israel, the people of Israel and the tradition of Israel.”
Cohen also had a direct message for the chareidi politicians at the negotiating table. The change bloc, he said, has spent four years attacking the chareidi public. “There isn’t an insult they haven’t used against the chareidi public. It’s clear that all they want is to replace the right-wing government and Netanyahu, and then throw the chareidim under the bus.”
He closed by stressing Likud’s long-standing alliance with the religious and chareidi parties. “Our connection to religion and tradition comes from ideology, not opportunism or political horse-trading,” he said. “Those who stay the course, who don’t zigzag and who hold on to their values, are the ones who win.”
