MK Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of the Ashkenazi-haredi United Torah Judaism chairman party, on Wednesday night issued an ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that without a Draft Law, there will be no haredi support for the next government - or for the current State Budget.
In an interview with Kol Hai Radio, Goldknopf explained, "The big problem is that the draft law didn’t pass before the government was formed."
"If we don’t manage to pass a draft law before the elections, no government will be formed with haredi support until a draft law is passed. In the meantime, we will not provide any backing to the government, including for the state budget, unless the law passes."
Goldknopf revealed that despite the public discourse surrounding the Draft Law, not even an official draft exists.
"We haven’t received any draft," he said. "Am I supposed to search the internet to see what others published? That’s not the way things are done."
"There isn’t a day when either I or my staff manager [Moti] Babchik don’t ask the coalition chairman, who is a trustworthy man, if he already has a draft of the law. And he still doesn’t."
When asked about the Religious Zionist Party’s opposition to the draft law, Goldknopf scoffed: "You mean the party that isn’t passing the electoral threshold in the polls? Come on. Otzma Yehudit, which does support the law - they cross it, and very nicely."
Regarding his relationship with Netanyahu, Goldknopf said: "I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. There’s no dispute, but I’m waiting for the moment when he'll call me to a meeting of party leaders. We used to have discussions there, and suddenly it all stopped. Is he with us? That depends on him, on how much he wants it."