Secret contacts between Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman and United Torah Judaism leaders could lead to far-reaching coalition agreements, Channel 13 News reported.
According to the report, the contacts are intended to enable United Torah Judaism to join a coalition formed by the anti-Netanyahu bloc through compromises on issues that have divided Yisrael Beytenu and the haredi parties for years.
One of the main elements of the emerging understandings concerns the conscription of yeshiva students. Under the proposal discussed by the parties, immediate legislation would be advanced to completely halt arrests of haredi deserters.
At the same time, a special committee would be established to reevaluate the issues of military and civilian service in Israel, addressing all population groups rather than only the haredi community. The committee would seek to formulate an agreed framework to replace the existing legislative arrangements.
According to the report, the move aims to facilitate the formation of a government by providing an initial solution to the issue of arrests, while moving discussions of long-term service arrangements to a separate forum.
The reports also claimed that the sides discussed the distribution of portfolios in the future government, and that the emerging agreements would give United Torah Judaism the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Interior Ministry.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to prevent United Torah Judaism from joining an Eisenkot-led coalition.
Netanyahu’s associates are urgently seeking to arrange meetings and direct conversations with the rabbis who lead United Torah Judaism, hoping to persuade them not to support the coalition efforts led by the center-left. These efforts focus mainly on maintaining ties with the party’s rabbinic leadership and preventing the completion of agreements with Liberman.
At this stage, the understandings between Yisrael Beytenu and United Torah Judaism have not developed into an agreement, and formal contacts between the negotiating teams have stopped.
Responding to the report on X, Liberman wrote: “All the reports about intermediaries acting on my behalf and the names mentioned, such as Moshe Lion, Avi Abuhatzeira, and others, are lies and fabrications. The same goes for reports about supposed discussions concerning a freeze on the Arrests Law. It is all lies and falsehoods. No such discussions ever took place, either directly or indirectly. It is no coincidence that, beyond the mudslinging, not a single reporter has provided one fact: On what date and at what times did those meetings take place, where, how many people participated, and who attended? The reason is simple: It simply never happened."
He added, "The reports about backing down on the Draft Law also demonstrate a basic lack of understanding by the reporters who broadcast them. The prerequisite for any Draft Law is that it withstand Supreme Court scrutiny. Otherwise, there is no point wasting even one minute on a law that cannot stand."
"There is not one word of truth in any of the reports on the television channels. This is an organized and coordinated campaign intended to harm, defame, and lay the groundwork for a minority government with Hamas supporters, a very short-lived government that would then hand Netanyahu another four years in power with a coalition of 70 MKs."