Yair Golan is Ready to Govern With Haredim - Even as Bennett and Lapid Vow "No Compromises" on Draft

As Israel's election campaign heats up and poll numbers disappoint, opposition leaders are sharpening their rhetoric on Haredi military service, while one of them has been caught saying something very different in private.

Bennett: "Everyone Serves - No Exceptions"

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose "Yachad" party has been struggling to gain altitude in the polls, opened Wednesday with one of his sharpest statements yet on the Haredi draft issue.

"The State of Israel will not survive when more and more of its citizens are raised on 'we'd rather die than be drafted,' don't serve in the IDF, and don't enter the workforce," Bennett wrote. "The working, serving public cannot continue to carry the economic and security burden alone. This is national suicide in slow motion, and I will not let it happen."

Bennett left no ambiguity about his intentions: "In the next government under my leadership, everyone, everyone, serves. Whoever does not serve will not receive a single shekel from the state. Simple as that. When it comes to state security, there are no compromises."

Lapid: "Compromises With Haredim Are Both a Political Mistake and a Values Failure"

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid also weighed in, warning the opposition bloc against softening its position. "All the talk about 'compromises with the Haredim' is a political mistake and a values failure," Lapid wrote. "After forty years we have a real opportunity for real change, for the first time there is a genuine chance to stop the draft-dodging and return the money to the serving, working public. Let's not miss it for the sake of short-term political gains."

Golan Caught on Tape - Then Rushes to Deny

The sharpest moment of the day came courtesy of a leaked recording aired on Channel 14, in which Democrats party chairman Yair Golan was heard saying he would be willing to sit with Haredi parties in a coalition, directly contradicting his public positioning.

"If the possibility of forming a broad government is conditioned on a Haredi party joining, I will vote in favor," Golan said in the recording.

The comments stood in stark contrast to his declaration just last week that "the Democrats will be your insurance policy that Haredi parties will sit in opposition in the coming years." In the same recording, Golan went further, describing the opposition's criticism of the draft law as "populist" and calling Haredi enlistment "a matter of process."

Golan moved quickly to contain the damage, releasing a video reaffirming that "the Haredim will be outside" any coalition he joins. He followed with a lengthy statement insisting his party "has no compromises and no folding of values," declaring the Democrats the only party in the bloc that would not yield "a millimeter" on democratic values, judicial independence, civil marriage, Shabbat, IDF secularization, or Haredi conscription.

MK Oded Forer of Yisrael Beiteinu was blunt in his response to the day's events: "You can't replace the draft-dodging government with another political scheme. Whoever wants real change needs to say it clearly, a universal service law. No exemptions, no deals, no gifts to Deri and Goldknopf."

The Polls: Bennett Slipping, Netanyahu Holding Firm

A new Channel 13 survey published Wednesday shows Bennett's "Yachad" party dropping three seats compared to last week, now sitting at 23 seats. Netanyahu's Likud remains the largest single party at 25 seats.

The Haredi parties show no movement: Shas holds steady at 10 seats, United Torah Judaism at 7 seats. Netanyahu's bloc, including the Haredi parties, continues to lead with 56 seats versus 54 seats for the opposition.

With the gap between the blocs at just two seats, the question of who sits with whom, and on what terms, may ultimately decide Israel's next government. Wednesday's leaked recording suggests that question is considerably more open than the opposition's public rhetoric implies.