Sources in the Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party told Kan News that party leader MK Moshe Gafni intended to tell Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he will not rule out other candidates if Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fails to form a coalition.
Only after pressure from those close to Netanyahu did Gafni decide to recommend Netanyahu to Rivlin without additional statements.
In their meeting, Gafni explained to Rivlin that his party recommends Netanyahu because Netanyahu's party is the one supported by the traditional public.
"We have always gone with the traditional public, which is with the Likud, and because this public is with the Likud, we support the Likud candidate, Binyamin Netanyahu," he said. "If the Likud had another candidate, we would support him."
"We have never abandoned this public and we will never abandon it, and this public will not abandon us. We saw this even more during the coronavirus pandemic, when we were slandered from morning until night."