The chairman of the United Right party, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, spoke with reporters on Sunday evening before entering a meeting with members of the New Right party after his announcement that Ayelet Shaked would head the United Right-New Right alliance.
"We will of course insist that United Right recommend that Netanyahu head the government and we go with him hand in hand and we will continue like that," said Rabbi Peretz.
"We view this union as an extremely important matter and the right-wing government as the best interest of religious Zionism. Out of this national responsibility, I decided that Ayelet would hold the top spot in United Right and we will agree on all the details,” he added.
In response, a senior official in the New Right party told Arutz Sheva that Rabbi Peretz’s demand is not in line with the emerging reality. "We will not lend a hand to a right-wing candidate who will refrain from committing himself not to form a government with the left," the source said.
Another demand of Rabbi Peretz is that two-thirds of the Knesset members in the top 10 of the list be from United Right. This is another central dispute, since the New Right demands four spots among the top ten.
National Union Director-General Yehuda Wald addressed the issue on Twitter and wrote, "Now that Rabbi Peretz has given up the top spot and there is agreement on the distribution of portfolios and the spots of Bennett and Kahane, will the alliance on the right not come into effect because of Bennett's insistence that Ronny Sassover be on the list ahead of Orit Struck and Idit Silman? That will be truly delusional and testify to the fact that Bennett does not want unity.”