MK Ariel Atias of Shas responded to efforts by the left to unite against PM Binyamin Netanyahu. 

"The attempt to produce a block against Netanyahu and the statements by Lapid that he will not sit in the same government with Shas must awaken all those to the fear of a Likud-Lapid government modeled like in 2003, a government without Shas which hit disadvantaged groups, ruthlessly cut the benefits of single mothers, the elderly, and children. It was a government without a soul, which also hit the country's religious services and which brought about anti-religious legislative initiatives," said Atias. 

Atias added, "Only a large and powerful Shas which receives broad support in the periphery...would be the Jewish soul to curb this dangerous trend."