MK Moshe Gafni, Chairman of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, clarified that his party does not intend to join the existing coalition - no matter what.
In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Gafni said, "With them, I will not sit. Not in this round, and not in the next round. We will not be part of the coalition. We are not zigzagging. We go according to the traditional public, and that has completely left [Israeli Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett - completely. I think that if we held elections, he would not pass the electoral threshold."
"You cannot pressure us in a way such as this, with threats, to harm the budgets for the haredi community and pass laws which harm the Jewish character of the State of Israel, so I need to abandon the traditional public. Their goal is one that wants to change the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish state - conversions, the Western Wall plan, public transportation on Shabbat (Sabbath). Their goal is very clear."
Slamming Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), Gafni said, "You need a psychologist who understands what he's saying. Liberman completely fooled us on these issues."
"He has nothing that he promises to give the public - he can't say that he is right-wing, because he's not right-wing. He can't say that he is left-wing, because he's not left-wing. So there's only one thing left: to go after the haredim."
Responding to fellow UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler's claim that the party should have pressured former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into resigning his position in order to form a right-wing government led by the Likud, Gafni said, "I am not the biggest fan of Netanyahu, but of the traditional public. The moment they are there - I'm with them."
When asked why he came out so firmly against Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, calling him a "traitor," he said, "I said that the Israeli public is comprised mostly of two parts - right and left. Bennett went and said to the public which voted for him, 'I'm going with the Right.' He signed on television that he will not work with [Foreign Minister Yair] Lapid (Yesh Atid) as prime minister, and took votes from his voters, who wanted a right-wing government. I'm talking about the political issue."
In addition to his position as Foreign Minister, Lapid is slated to become Prime Minister next year, under a rotation agreement signed between himself and Bennett.
Regarding his statement that with Bennett, there was no need for a writ of divorce, Gafni explained, "There are two ways that a husband and wife can separate: a writ of divorce, or death. Since there is the poll which shows that Bennett does not pass the electoral threshold, in some of the surveys, so he'll disappear."
"I am fuming at him. Everything he said - he violated. He sits at the head of the government. I am not discussing how many Knesset seats stand behind him, but he said he would take care of the haredi community, which has been hurt the most. He is cheating on his voters," Gafni concluded.