Bezalel Smotrich
Bezalel SmotrichPhoto by Yossi Aloni/Flash90

The Likud party's negotiating team on Thursday will meet with the negotiating teams of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ), Shas, and Religious Zionism parties.

A senior source in UTJ's Agudat Yisrael faction, who is involved in the coalition negotiations with the Likud, said he fully supports Religious Zionism chief MK Bezalel Smotrich.

"We will not enter [the coalition] without Bezalel Smotrich," the source told Kikar Hashabbat. "We will not allow a return to a situation like what happened with [former Prime Minister] Naftali Bennett, when he was left out, and that is essentially what led to the formation of the 'bloc of change.'"

"There is a right-wing bloc, and the entire bloc is responsible for the victory, not just the Likud alone. Netanyahu is in charge because of the entire bloc. We will demand that the entire bloc be happy, and if Smotrich is not in, we are not in, either. There is no discussion on that."

The source added, "Our feeling is that there is no progress in the negotiations. The Likud is not giving us answers on the issue of the education budget, and the same goes for the issue of the Draft Law, and the issue of positions. The Likud is sidelining us."