MK Meir Porush, from the United Torah Judaism's (UTJ) Agudat Yisrael faction, responded Tuesday night to statements by UTJ's Degel Hatorah faction that if the right-religious bloc does not have 61 Knesset seats, the party will join a center-left coalition instead.
Speaking at an event in Beit El, Porush said, "Ignore what is being published and the background noise - United Torah Judaism has never sat in a left-wing government, and the Council of Torah Sages has already instructed us in the past to go with the party that is closest to the traditions of Israel."
"We will work hard for 112 days to bring 61 seats for a government headed by [Likud MK Benjamin] Netanyahu."
On Tuesday, the Yated Ne'eman newspaper, which is affiliated with Degel Hatorah, published an editorail reading, "Many types of dirty ones have flowed in the rotten rivers of politics, but the position of faithful Judaism has not changed. We are neither left nor right."
Last month, Degal Hatorah's MK Uri Maklev told Kol Berama Radio, "What if Netanyahu does not achieve 61? We will make maximum connections, we will show excessive flexibility to form a coalition even if it's not in the current framework. This will require us to think differently."
Earlier that same month, Maklev told Galatz, "If Netanyahu will not succeed in forming a government, and [Defense Minister Benny] Gantz (Blue and White) will, we will be able to reach an agreement with or without a rotation. It is too early to examine this, but we have not ruled it out for a moment."
"If Netanyahu will not succeed in forming a government, and Gantz will, we will be able to reach an agreement with or without a rotation," Maklev told Galatz. "It is too early to examine this, but we have not ruled it out for a moment."