Members of the Degel HaTorah Knesset slate on Saturday night visited the homes of Lithuanian-haredi leaders Rabbi Dov Lando and Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch "to receive their blessings ahead of the new Knesset term," an official party statement confirmed.
Degel HaTorah is one of the two main factions comprising the Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism list.
On Friday, Kikar Hashabbat reported that Rabbi Dov Lando had instructed Degel HaTorah MKs to "make every effort to normalize the status of yeshiva students. We do not belong to anyone's bloc. We belong to the bloc of the Torah world."
According to the report, the instruction followed intensive contacts in recent days aimed at forming a minority government, with United Torah Judaism abstaining from the vote.
Senior figures in the anti-Netanyahu bloc are reportedly attempting to engineer a complex political arrangement under which United Torah Judaism would provide a parliamentary safety net for Gadi Eisenkot. Such a move would reduce Netanyahu's bloc to 46 seats and increase Eisenkot's bloc to 55 seats.
According to Kikar Hashabbat, in exchange for abstaining during the government's swearing-in vote, United Torah Judaism is reportedly demanding an agreed-upon Draft Law and the normalization of yeshiva students' legal status.
Senior United Torah Judaism officials confirmed that discussions are indeed taking place through intermediaries, although the chances of such an arrangement are considered extremely slim.
However, the office of United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher quickly denied the reports, stating: "No instruction was given. We have not yet visited the leading Torah sages since the elections."
Saturday evening's meeting marked the first time members of the party's Knesset slate had met with the leading rabbis since the election results were announced. It is expected to determine the party's guiding principles ahead of those consultations.