Religious Affairs Minister Michael Malkieli on Monday morning revealed that there is near-complete coordination between his party, Shas, and the Lithuanian-haredi Degel Hatorah faction which makes up half of the United Torah Judaism list.
"There is a connection between the homes of the Torah sages, and in 99% of cases, we vote together," he told Kol Barama Radio.
Harshly criticizing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for her interference in passing a Draft Law, Malkieli noted that she intentionally makes passing the law more difficult.
"If the Draft Law were handled as every other law, then we could reach agreements," he explained. "There are people who wish that a law should not pass."
Regarding Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf's threat to leave the government if a Draft Law does not pass, Malkieli added: "The easiest thing to do is to give up and join the opposition and give speeches." But, he stressed, "If that is what his rabbis tell him, then he needs to leave."
Malkieli also stressed that the haredi parties have achieved many things since joining the coalition, and that "when faced with the choice of whether to continue fighting from within and giving up, we chose to stay and fight."
Regarding the cancellation of daycare subsidies for yeshiva students' families, Malkieli called on daycare operators to "work with the yeshiva students until a solution is found," recalling the aid provided to the operators during the coronavirus lockdowns.
"There is a feeling among the public that we are not doing enough," he admitted. "I tell the public that they need to understand that the haredi representation is facing difficulties the likes of which we have not seen for years.... It is not laziness, the Attorney General is preventing us from acting on a lot of things."