Senior figures within United Torah Judaism are reportedly exploring a dramatic political move that could see the Chareidi party support a minority government led by Gadi Eisenkot, potentially ending its longstanding political alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to a report by Channel 12 on Thursday, the proposed arrangement would see UTJ remain outside the government while abstaining from key Knesset votes, allowing Eisenkot to govern without the party formally joining his coalition. Under the current election results, Netanyahu’s bloc holds 46 seats without UTJ, compared to 48 for Eisenkot’s bloc, which could also potentially rely on Ra’am’s eight seats.
“Our alliance with Netanyahu has run its course,” one UTJ official told Channel 12. “We won’t get anything from Netanyahu, especially when he doesn’t have 61 seats. Our interest is to once again become a decisive force in the Knesset.”
Another party official expressed concern that a broad unity government could leave UTJ politically irrelevant. “If a unity government is formed, we could find ourselves in the opposition wilderness. That’s not why we were elected,” the official said.
The discussions come amid growing frustration within the Chareidi leadership over Netanyahu’s handling of the military draft crisis. In May, HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau issued a sharply worded letter declaring that the Chareidi parties no longer had confidence in Netanyahu and were no longer obligated to support him politically.
Before the elections, UTJ chairman MK Yaakov Asher similarly rejected automatic loyalty to either political bloc, declaring that the party belonged to only one bloc: the Torah bloc. Senior Agudas Yisrael official Moti Babchik also stated that the party’s loyalty to Netanyahu had ended.
However, the military draft issue remains the greatest obstacle to any agreement with Eisenkot. UTJ officials recognize that Eisenkot and his political allies are unlikely to accept the sweeping military service exemptions demanded by Chareidi leaders. Nevertheless, some believe negotiations could produce legislation that both sides would be willing to tolerate.
Preserving government funding for Chareidi educational institutions, kollelim, and yeshivos is another central concern. One UTJ official suggested that if cooperation with Eisenkot succeeds and an acceptable draft arrangement is reached, the party could eventually join his government formally.
For now, Channel 12 reports that only low-level contacts have taken place between representatives of UTJ and Eisenkot’s political camp. It remains unclear whether the proposal has been formally presented to Eisenkot, and his Yashar party declined to comment.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2616542/utj-reconsiders-utj-figures-consider-backing-eisenkot-government-say-alliance-with-netanyahu-is-over.html
P.S. Deri considers resigning. He is obviously very hurt by election results of his party.
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