Yaakov Litzman
Yaakov LitzmanSpokesperson

Minister of Housing and Construction Yaakov Litzman announced on Monday evening during a conference of activists that the Agudat Yisrael faction of United Torah Judaism supports Binyamin Netanyahu as a candidate for Prime Minister.

"We informed the public before the election that we will go with Netanyahu, so there is no question here. United Torah Judaism, and at least Agudat Yisrael as far as I’m concerned, will recommend only Binyamin Netanyahu to the President. Our goal is to establish a right-wing coalition for all Israeli citizens. All the other rumors are spin," said Litzman.

Litzman’s remarks came amid reports that United Torah Judaism chairman Moshe Gafni, who is part of the Degel HaTorah faction of UTJ, is angry with Netanyahu due to his hesitation to form an alliance with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas.

In a conversation with his associates, published on Kan 11 News, Gafni said, "We could have sat in a coalition with the support of Abbas from outside, this is a conservative party that is similar to us."

Gafni also said in the conversation that "Netanyahu, who made [Bezalel] Smotrich bigger – let him deal with the consequences. Now Smotrich decides who to put in the coalition."

The report further noted that, while Gafni currently does not refuse to meet with other candidates, the decision on the identity of the candidate in which UTJ will support will ultimately be made by the Council of Torah Sages.