MK Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism) was interviewed on i24NEWS on Thursday and said that his party is not vetoing the possibility of joining a government with the Blue and White party.
"We are not against a unity government. We support it. We think we can be members of a unity government. There is no difference. If the Likud can be a member of it, then we can too," he said.
According to a separate report in the Behadrei Haredim news website, Maklev did not have reservations about Blue and White’s platform on issues of religion and state.
"With regard to the Blue and White platform on religious issues in Israel, we think we have no problem with most members of this party, including [Benny] Gantz himself.”
"We went with Gantz and worked with him as well as with [Moshe] Bogie Ya'alon who we worked with for years and Gabi Ashkenazi, but we do have a problem with Yair Lapid. If Lapid accepts our positions on these issues we will become dominant partners in the unity government."
The interviewer asked the haredi MK, "I understand that you are not closing the door to Blue and White," to which Maklev replied, "Regarding Blue and White, we are not shutting the door, Lapid is the problem, but Blue and White should solve it and they can solve it. Even today I speak to Lapid, it's not like we're not talking to each other. We’ve gone through a very complicated road, he was acting aggressively towards the haredi sector, trying to educate the entire public."
"It is disproportionate for him to tell us what to do," Maklev said of Lapid. "If Lapid says 'I want to talk to you and I respect your demands,' then there is something to talk about."
Maklev’s office said in response, "In contrast to various publications, there is no connection between MK Uri Maklev’s comments and the titles and remarks that were published, the things that were published in his name were not at all in stated the interview. There is no change in the position of United Torah Judaism with its clear support for Binyamin Netanyahu, as an integral part of the right-wing bloc.”