Gafni
GafniFlash 90

UTJ MK and Finance Committee Chair Moshe Gafni on Saturday said he would not sit in a coalition together with Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid.

"I will not sit in a coalition with Yesh Atid leader MK Yair Lapid," Gafni told Channel 2's "Meet the Israeli Press" program.

Recent polls show Yesh Atid and the leading Likud party as running head-to-head in 2019's elections.

Regarding MK Yakov Litzman's (UTJ) resignation from his post as Health Minister, Gafni said he "felt great pride" when Litzman resigned, adding that it was for this reason that UTJ ministers refused for years to accept the role of minister, instead becoming deputy ministers.

Litzman's resignation was in protest of construction work being done on Shabbat (the Sabbath). Gafni admitted that construction work on Shabbat cannot be prevented, but said he would not make peace with it.

"We know where we live, but when a Jew works on Shabbat, in a public place - we cannot make peace with that," he said.

He also slammed the Supreme Court for being "divorced from reality" and "refusing to recognize reality."

"They will not succeed in forcing us to serve as ministers or to draft into the IDF," Gafni emphasized.

In September, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that would do away with deferment for full time yeshiva study, requiring them to serve in the army like their secular counterparts. However, the court suspended its decision for one year to allow for preparations for the new arrangement and providing the government with the opportunity to pass a new law.

Regarding the Peleg Yerushalmi's (Jerusalem Faction) violent demonstrations, Gafni said the sect is 'not haredi."

"Haredim don't act that way. This kind of behavior does not befit a haredi person."