About two months ago, journalist Nahum Barnea of Yediot Aharonot reported that Yesh Atid's chairman, MK Yair Lapid, called one of the leaders of Chabad-Lubavitch in Israel threatening to, "put an end to Chabad's image of Hannukah menorahs (a symbol of Chabad outreach) worldwide and love of every Jew" in an attempt to prevent the movement's emissaries from supporting the Religious Zionism Party.
"If you place your support behind Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, I will make every attempt to go after you," he was quoted as saying.
Lapid believes that the integration between the more haredi-like Religious Zionists and the right-wing nationalists is something which the Chabad community sees as fitting. In 1996, a Chabad official took part in the funding of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's campaign, which used, "Netanyahu is good for Jews" as its slogan.
The next step, Barnea said, is, "Ben Gvir is good for Jews."
Smotrich responded at the time of the report, saying: "That's the difference between Chabad and Lapid. The Chabad movement is careful not to identify itself politically, it loves and helps every Jew no matter who they happen to be without any preconditions or political standing. It's the polar opposite of Yair Lapid."
"I am sure that in Chabad, they will continue to love Lapid, continue reaching out to him, and be more than happy to host him, even after this type of threat because that's what Chabad-Lubavitchers have been doing for over 200 years."
Lapid had previously been seen as a supporter of Chabad, even lauding the Hassidic movement at a Knesset event.
Sources were quick to point out, however, that politicians from across Israel's political divide, including MKs from the Joint Arab List, were present at the gathering.
Chabad sources said that while the movement's rabbinic council generally defers from providing followers voting advice, this would be difficult to avoid.
Chabad also said they were treating Lapid's threat as a "Purim joke," however, in order to prevent any type of wrongful accusations against the Yesh Atid candidate.