Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday morning dismissed rumors that haredim would begin to vote for MK Bezalel Smotrich's "Religious Zionism" party.
"Two years ago, I said that there wouldn't be many haredim who vote for Likud - and I was right," he told Radio Kol Hai. "It's the same this time. You won't see a significant number voting for Smotrich."
Regarding the tension in UTJ's Agudat Yisrael faction prior to the party submitting its list of candidates to the Elections Committee, Porush said: "There is no tension with [Housing] Minister [Yakov] Litzman."
"We hold professional discussions for the good of the public. I thought that we needed to make some changes to how we see things, and I'm glad that this perspective was accepted and that we can move forward for the public and for our voters. There was never any tension just for the sake of tension."
He also said he is not rushing to adopt the "green family" plan to allow haredi schools to reopen.
"We can't implement this plan so easily - children are not numbers," he explained, "The Education Ministry will advance anything that brings children back to school. If you want to lead a process that UTJ will encourage, then it needs to receive the rabbis' approval."