Senior Agudat Yisrael officials believe faction chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf does not intend to vote against a minority government led by Gadi Eisenkot if such a government is formed, but would instead abstain, Amit Segal reported.
Such a move, if carried out, would mark a break with the close political alliance the haredi parties have maintained with Netanyahu in recent years.
The same officials estimated that Goldknopf may not be the only United Torah Judaism lawmaker to take such a step, although there remains considerable uncertainty over Degel HaTorah's position.
An Agudat Yisrael abstention would lower the threshold required to form a government, meaning Netanyahu would need to secure a significantly larger number of seats than the Eisenkot bloc to ensure that the rival bloc cannot form a government.
Following the report, Goldknopf quickly issued a statement clarifying his party's fundamental conditions for any future political partnership.
"Agudat Yisrael will not support the establishment of a government and will not provide outside support to any government without resolving the status of yeshiva students and passing a draft law without sanctions and without quotas," Goldknopf said.