UTJ open to joining Eisenkot government with draft compromise

United Torah Judaism is seriously considering joining a government with the change bloc if an agreement on the draft law is reached, a party source said Friday. The statement follows Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman's announcement that he is prepared to compromise on the issue in order to form a government without Binyamin Netanyahu and avoid another election.

"We're not very surprised. Since the election we've been hearing the talk. We've been speaking with people in the change bloc, we understood where this was heading," the party source said. According to him, there is willingness to join a government led by the bloc, 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," the source clarified.

Liberman removes the veto

Liberman made clear this morning that he opposes forming a minority government that would rely on abstention by the Joint List and Ra'am, but is prepared to compromise on other issues. "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 draft law issue as well," Liberman wrote in a statement he published.

"This pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But in light of the array of challenges we are facing today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the people of Israel must stand above every other consideration," the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman added.

From conversations with Yisrael Beiteinu MKs and candidates it emerged that the party believes flexibility on the draft law is necessary because only the change bloc can pass it from a public standpoint. When asked how this squares with the election promise, they replied that the alternatives are reliance on the Arab factions, going with Netanyahu or new elections, options Liberman does not accept, and therefore flexibility on conscription is required.

Degel HaTorah MKs at the home of HaRav Dov Lando

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher responded with a barb to Liberman's statement. "It is heartening to discover the flexibility of all the political players on the conscription issue," he said. "It is painful to think how much incitement and baseless hatred could have been spared if that same flexibility had been revealed in recent years."

Asher clarified that any political proposal will first be brought to rabbinic decision. "Of course, any proposal will first be brought to the decision of the 'mechutanim', our generation's gedolim shlita," Asher wrote, emphasizing the principle of rabbinic leadership that guides the party.

In United Torah Judaism they estimate that opening negotiations with Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot is a realistic possibility, though the contacts are expected to be complex. Liberman's willingness to compromise does not guarantee agreement with the chareidi parties, and the issue of conscripting yeshiva students is expected to stand at the center of the possible negotiations.

According to assessments presented in the political system, the chareidi parties will find it difficult to vote for a new draft law that includes significant sanctions or binding and rigid targets. Therefore, it is possible that in order to obtain their support it will be necessary to propose a particularly softened framework.

According to the picture presented in the change bloc, United Torah Judaism's seven mandates are not enough to form a coalition of 61. Adding them to the bloc's 48 mandates would bring it to 55 mandates, while adding Shas as well with its six mandates would bring it to 61.

In United Torah Judaism they are examining the possibility that its entry into a change government would subsequently pave the way for Shas to join. According to the assessment, in such a case Shas chairman Aryeh Deri could claim that the government was formed in any case with United Torah Judaism's support, and that his party's joining is not the factor that enabled its formation. However, it is not clear how a 61-mandate government would be formed without Shas when United Torah Judaism only brings it to 55.

In the change bloc there are those who believe that reaching agreement with both chareidi parties is a difficult and even impossible task. Others are encouraged by the fact that United Torah Judaism, despite pressures, did not recommend a candidate to the President.

The change bloc has not yet received the mandate to form a government, and Eisenkot has promised he will do everything to realize it. However at least half the bloc, led by Liberman, have made clear in practice that the emergency plan for a 48-mandate government with abstention by the Arab parties is not acceptable to them.

Naftali Bennett has not yet published his positions publicly regarding the issues at hand. The assessment is that he too will not lend a hand to a government that relies in any way on the Arab parties.