Leaked Audio: Yair Golan Secretly Plots Coalition Deal with Haredim
In a stunning political twist, Democrats leader Yair Golan abandons his hardline stance on Haredi enlistment in a desperate bid to replace Netanyahu.
Democrats chairman Yair Golan reportedly said he would be willing to support a future government that includes a Haredi party if that is what is needed to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to a recording published by Channel 14, Golan said that if forming a broad government depended on one Haredi party joining, he would vote in favor.
“If the possibility of forming a broad government is conditioned on a Haredi party joining, I will vote in favor,” Golan was heard saying.
He added, however, that Likud, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir would not be part of such a government.
The remarks appeared to contrast with Golan’s public messaging from last week, when he responded to an AI-generated image showing him dressed as a Haredi man by pledging that the Democrats would ensure the Haredi parties remained in the opposition.
“The Democrats will be your insurance policy that the Haredi parties will sit in the opposition in the coming years,” Golan wrote at the time.
In the newly reported recording, Golan also criticized the opposition’s handling of the draft law debate, calling some of the rhetoric around Haredi enlistment “populist.” He said Haredi conscription should be seen as a process rather than something that can be imposed all at once.
The comments may complicate the Democrats’ campaign messaging, as the party has strongly criticized broad military service exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students and has presented itself as a firm opponent of the current coalition’s draft legislation.