Ben Gvir warns chareidim: Left despises your faith

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a post Sunday thanking voters for the broad support Otzma Yehudit received in the elections. "326,634 citizens placed the Otzma Yehudit ballot in the box," Ben Gvir wrote, emphasizing that this was the first time the party ran alone without partners, and addressing the chareidi public directly.

Ben Gvir noted that Otzma Yehudit is the only right-wing party that grew in strength. "We rose to seven Knesset seats, compared to six in the outgoing Knesset, while all other right-wing parties declined," he said. According to him, the public made Otzma Yehudit the second-largest party by vote count in the right-wing bloc, after United Torah Judaism, which maintained its strength.

"This trust is not taken for granted. It obligates us and obligates me," the minister wrote. "I thank Hashem and each and every one of you for this tremendous trust. I promise you to continue fighting for you with all my strength ... The campaign is not over. The struggle for the Jewish state, for Israel's security, against terror supporters among us and against the legal gang that hijacked democracy,"

A central part of the letter was devoted to a direct appeal to the chareidi public. Ben Gvir addressed the contacts taking place in recent days between the Change Bloc and United Torah Judaism in an attempt to establish a minority government. "We are all already hearing the soothing voices from the left-wing camp, promising to give up on the draft just so you will help them form a government," he wrote.

The minister sharply attacked what he called the hypocrisy of the left-wing parties. "It's unbelievable how these hypocrites built their entire campaign on hatred against you, and now, in one moment, are explaining to everyone that actually you don't need to be in the army at all," he wrote.

Ben Gvir warned the chareidi public against being tempted by the left's offers. "You have nothing in common with the left. They hate you, despise your faith, scorn your rabbanim, and will do everything to dismantle you and the religious bloc and uproot Judaism from the state ... The first thing they will do is strengthen the legal systemm that same system that will persecute you for many more years, even after the left and its Arab partners lose their majority in the Knesset.

I very much hope that in the coming term we will work again from within the government and do more and more good things. But in any case, whether in the coalition or in the opposition, we will continue to act for you," he wrote.

The letter comes against the backdrop of intensive contacts in recent days between senior figures in the Change Bloc and senior figures in United Torah Judaism. Senior figures in the Change Bloc are trying to engineer a complex political move: swearing in a minority government headed by Gadi Eisenkot, which would be based on abstention by United Torah Judaism. In exchange for the safety net, United Torah Judaism is demanding an agreed draft law and an anchoring arrangement for the status of yeshiva students.

Over the weekend, MK Yitzchak Goldknopf clariifed in closed conversations that the faction does not intend to back down from its original demands. "We are standing on the demand for a draft law without targets and without sanctions," Goldknopf said. "This is not up for discussion, this is what the Council of Torah Sages instructed us."

At the same time, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has held separate meetings in recent days with Minister Bezalel Smotrich and with Ben Gvir himself, in which they discussed moves to prevent the establishment of a left-wing government. The meetings are taking place against the backdrop of intensive contacts to establish a minority government with abstention by United Torah Judaism.