Haredi MK: If Religious Zionism isn’t in – neither is UTJ – BINGO

T. Belman. Great. Yesterday I published There is another option, not yet pursued and wrote:

“We know that Ben Gvir and Smotrich have agreed that either they are both in or they’re both out. That means its either Gantz or them.  Now if Ben Gvir and Smotrich convince either Shas or UTJ to join them in a common front, ball game over.  Bibi will be forced to go with them. I doubt he will  abandon the three parties and go with Lapid.”

“Netanyahu (Likud) on Wednesday evening set the coming Wednesday, November 23, as the deadline for forming the next government,”

Senior source in United Torah Judaism clarifies: If MK Smotrich isn’t in the coalition, neither are we; the victory belongs to the entire bloc.

Israel National News  Nov 17, 2022, 11:27 AM

Bezalel SmotrichPhoto by Yossi Aloni/Flash90

The Likud party’s negotiating team on Thursday will meet with the negotiating teams of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ), Shas, and Religious Zionism parties.

A senior source in UTJ’s Agudat Yisrael faction, who is involved in the coalition negotiations with the Likud, said he fully supports Religious Zionism chief MK Bezalel Smotrich.

“We will not enter [the coalition] without Bezalel Smotrich,” the source told Kikar Hashabbat. “We will not allow a return to a situation like what happened with [former Prime Minister] Naftali Bennett, when he was left out, and that is essentially what led to the formation of the ‘bloc of change.'”

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“There is a right-wing bloc, and the entire bloc is responsible for the victory, not just the Likud alone. Netanyahu is in charge because of the entire bloc. We will demand that the entire bloc be happy, and if Smotrich is not in, we are not in, either. There is no discussion on that.”

The source added, “Our feeling is that there is no progress in the negotiations. The Likud is not giving us answers on the issue of the education budget, and the same goes for the issue of the Draft Law, and the issue of positions. The Likud is sidelining us.”