Bloc with the Orthodox? "First Shas should hurry to ask for forgiveness"

Reports of meetings between national religious rabbis and Hasidic Rebbes (Gerrer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe and the Vizhnitzer Rebbe) led, naturally, to thoughts that the orthodox parties and Habayit Hayehudi are forming a bloc.

This morning, in a conversation with a prominent at Habayit Haehudi, he sounded very angry about the news. "Now, suddenly we are not a gentile party?" - He asks, turning his anger especially towards Shas.

Recalling, during his weekly sermon on Motzei Shabbos before the election, the president of the Council of Torah Sages of Shas, Hagr"o Yosef, made harsh declarations about Habayit Hayehudi party: "is this a Jewish home? This is a home of gentiles!"

According to the official, Habayit Hayehudi party does not intend to forgive the attitude directed towards them. "We expect a public apology," he said.

In answer to my question if the message was passed onto Shas – the official replies: "Uri Ariel spoke with Minister Eli Yishai and said they expect an apology from them." But, he said, "The real trouble in Shas is that you do not really know who you're supposed to talk to. We receive a call from Aryeh Deri's representatives. We ask them: Who do we talk to at Shas? They reply, with us, with Aryeh. Then we get a call from the representatives of Minister Eli Yishai. We ask the same question - and get the same answer: "with us, with Eli". Then we receive a call from the office of the Minister Ariel Atias. So to whom do we talk to?" he

"We expect Shas to hurry up and ask forgiveness"

Conclusions between Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid: "we will enter the coalition together or not" says an official at Habayit Hayehudi that they certainly have "a good relationship" with Lapid, but not beyond that. "It is a better relationship than with the Orthodox!" he stresses.

About the relationship with Yahadut Hatorah the situation is different. He said it will be much easier to operate on this channel. "But as we learned, Yahadut Hatorah is coordinated with Shas, so they will have a problem with us."

I ask him about the possibility of a future split in Habayit Hayehudi. The religious Zionist rabbis are leading the course of a block with the Orthodox, I tell him. Is there a situation in which representatives like Uri Ariel, Orit Struck, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, and more will be respond to the rabbi's orders and rebel?

The senior rejects this possibility until the very end. "Get used to it at the press; this is a party which will not split! We are one faction!"

He said he has seen mergers between parties, including the consolidation of the national religious parties, like in 2006, but harmony as we currently have has not seen. He tells of a direct link between the chairman of Tekuma, Uri Ariel, and party chairman Naftali Bennett, the online telephone calls, current updates on each call each of them makes. And no, he says, the orthodox parties should not build on the split within Habayit Hayehudi.

"We expect Shas to hurry up and ask for forgiveness. Then, they should hope that we can forgive them, "they say at Habayit Hayehudi.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!