Likud Campaign Manager Zvika Brot Offers Moti Leitner Government Role To Quit October 27 Election

Likud seeks exit deal

Likud campaign manager Zvika Brot met with Moti Leitner, chairman of the independent Haredi Public party, and offered him a government position overseeing a budget of hundreds of millions of shekels in exchange for withdrawing from the October 27 election. Leitner’s party presented itself as an alternative for working Haredim, those who serve in the military and members of ultra-Orthodox communities who feel unrepresented by the existing political leadership, and it backed protecting full-time Torah scholars from conscription while requiring Haredi men who are not studying to undertake military, civilian or national service. Leitner’s platform also supported introducing mathematics and English into Haredi schools and increasing ultra-Orthodox participation in the workforce, and it placed women on its Knesset candidate list, while neither Shas nor UTJ includes women among its Knesset candidates.

Likud and the Haredi Public party denied the proposed position would be a ministerial or deputy ministerial appointment, and the negotiations were described as involving a government project director role focusing on initiatives for the Haredi community. The arrangement was developed by Omer Rahamim, campaign manager for Religious Zionism party chairman Bezalel Smotrich, and it was framed as depending on Netanyahu succeeding in forming the next government.

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Netanyahu and Smotrich pressure

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed for the Charedi Public to suspend its campaign with nine days to go until the October 27 election, Channel 12 reports.

Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich worried the party would not receive enough votes to enter the Knesset, so they argued those votes would be wasted rather than going to pro-Netanyahu factions.

The report said party chair Moti Leitner wanted to be a member of Knesset or a government minister, but Netanyahu and Smotrich were presenting other offers that the report does not specify.

The Charedi Public responded in a statement reported by the network, saying, “We do not have the privilege of stepping away. We cannot step away. We have a large public that we will represent.״

The ynet account said Leitner rejected the proposals presented to him on Monday morning, while Brot and other Likud representatives insisted on meeting him later that evening for further talks.

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What is at stake

The ynet account said Leitner’s independent candidacy could weaken Netanyahu’s bloc if the Haredi Public party attracted votes from Netanyahu’s supporters but failed to cross the electoral threshold. The negotiations were described as exposing tension between Leitner’s independent political ambitions and the influence of established ultra-Orthodox parties within Netanyahu’s coalition bloc, with Leitner continuing to insist he intended to remain in the election until the end. Leitner left open the possibility of an agreement, making clear that he would not accept promises of a future government position without guarantees that Shas and UTJ would not obstruct the arrangement.

The proposed responsibilities included establishing state-run Haredi educational institutions and promoting the integration of ultra-Orthodox Israelis into the labor market, and the ynet account said those proposals overlapped with central elements of Leitner’s own political platform. The ynet account also described Likud’s broader efforts to consolidate support before the election and prevent votes from being lost to smaller parties that may fail to enter the Knesset.

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