Uri Ariel's National Union/Tekuma party is set to decide by the end of the week whether it will leave Naftali Bennett's Jewish Home and join forces with Eli Yishai's new hareidi Yachad party or stay, with sources in Tekuma explaining the cause of the tensions with Bennett.
The sources explained that while they recognize that unity in the religious Zionist public is important, in recent times all of the indications from Bennett's office have made clear Bennett doesn't want to join with Tekuma, "and then heaven forbid we'll reach a situation in which the Torah core of religious Zionism will find itself without any representation in the Knesset."
The statement refers to Jewish Home's move to more actively pursue votes beyond the religious Zionist public, including the secular/traditional and Druze public, with Tekuma members accusing Jewish Home of becoming a "Likud B." Another source of friction has been primaries, with Ariel demanding seats reserved on the list for his party and Bennett demanding all Tekuma members other than Ariel and possibly one other run in primaries.
However, the sources say that more than the issue of the Knesset list, the conflict is on the basic demand to preserve the Torah-observant identity of the party.
"Too many secular Jews, as good and excellent as they may be, are joining the party and slowly the Torah core is pushed aside with a clear goal - to make the hardali (hareidi Zionist) stream disappear from the party and turn it into Likud B or 'light' religious Zionism," they said. The jab is partially based on Bennett's past membership in Likud, during his time in Binyamin Netanyahu's office; MK Ayelet Shaked likewise was a senior Likud member for many years.
"We are in a difficult period in which other than the war for the land of Israel there is a religious war on the religious nature of the state of Israel," the sources continued. "In the last Knesset Yesh Atid, Hatnua, Labor and other sources succeeded in advancing laws that harm the religious make-up of the state of Israel, all of that despite the power of the Jewish Home party."
"In the next Knesset maybe a Druze, an Arab, secular Jews will join the party - to whom exactly will religious laws and the anti-religious attempt to change the nature of Israel matter?" posed the sources.
"Belligerent Bennett"
Bennett is controlling the party and acting "belligerently" according to the sources, who charged: "Naftali claims he intends to reserve the second spot for Uri Ariel but in parallel intends to reserve for himself the right to drop in to this spot a person from outside - if he finds a person who fits - and to push Uri to the third spot, all of that without consulting with him or asking his opinion."
"Naftali Bennett is working alone, he doesn't consult his friends and many of the MKs fear opposing the chairman due to hinted threats by Bennett's people. You can't work with this kind of belligerence, we aren't Bennett's pawns," said the Tekuma sources.
"It's important to us that Naftali Bennett succeeds and that Jewish Home be a strong party, but by no means at the expense of the religious nature of the party," they insisted. "If Bennett intends to establish Likud B that's his right but let him say that openly, and if it's important to him to preserve the Torah core in the party then we are available to complete the negotiations."
Responding to Bennett's recent election campaign PR video, which ran with the slogan "stop apologizing," the Tekuma sources concluded by quipping: "we also won't apologize, we're very religious."
Jewish Home sources approached for comment by Arutz Sheva brushed off the accusations, responding only that "it would be better for those taking a shopping trip between Knesset parties not to preach morals."