The United Torah Judaism party announced Tuesday morning that it has suspended coalition talks with the Likud.
The haredi faction said it will not resume negotiations until it receives “clarification” regarding the distribution of ministerial positions in the next government, accusing the Likud’s negotiating team of unfairly allocating portfolios.
In a statement Tuesday, UTJ noted that Shas appears poised to receive no less than five major ministerial positions, while none have yet been offered to UTJ.
On Monday night, talks between Shas and the Likud were cut short, when Shas chairman Aryeh Deri rushed to Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, after Rabbi Shimon Baadani, a member of Shas’ rabbinic council, was hospitalized.
An official from UTJ told Israel National News Monday that the party is seriously considering forming a united front of all the haredi and Religious Zionist factions in order to maximize their negotiating power with the Likud.
The Likud’s negotiating team has been patronizing and condescending towards the religious and haredi factions,” the official said.
“They still haven’t realized what has happened and that we need a right-wing government with a strong affinity for religious and tradition, and all that implies.”