The Knesset's haredi parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas, have clarified that even if former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves politics, they will not join the current coalition.
Speaking with Kikar Hashabbat, the leader of one of the parties said, "Even if Netanyahu retires from political life, we will not join the government."
According to a senior UTJ official, "We have nothing to seek in the Bennett-Lapid government, [which is] a government which destroys and demolishes Judaism, and buries Jewish identity. I don't see a situation in which we would become the partners of these religion-destroyers."
A Shas official told Kikar Hashabbat, "We always declared that we are faithful to the traditional public in the Likud. It's true, we have a personal connection with Netanyahu, but our loyalty is not blind loyalty to Netanyahu, but to the Likud's voter base, the traditional public. Therefore, there will not be a situation in which Shas would join a bad coalition."
"We will not sit at one table with [Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett, [Foreign Minister Yair] Lapid (Yesh Atid), [Religious Affairs Minister Matan] Kahana (Yamina), and [Finance Minister Avigdor] Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu). It will not happen."