Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with United Torah Judaism Chairman Yaakov Asher to dissuade the seven seat ultra-Orthodox party from joining opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s governing coalition, Yediot News reported. Netanyahu told Asher and repeated in a public speech Tuesday that Eisenkot’s bloc has nothing to offer the ultra-Orthodox community, while separate efforts to court senior UTJ rabbis were rebuffed.
The lobbying comes after Eisenkot and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman agreed to pursue a 61 seat majority coalition with UTJ and the six seat ultra-Orthodox Shas party before considering a minority government backed by Arab factions. Although both opposition leaders campaigned on ending ultra-Orthodox military draft exemptions, their proposed coalition deal would revive a 2018 conscription bill that delays economic sanctions on yeshivas for three years and omits personal penalties, potentially offering 12 to 18 months without meaningful enlistment, fines, or arrests for draft evasion.
