Ultra-Orthodox MK Says Religious Parties May Look Beyond Netanyahu’s Right-Wing Bloc

United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher issued a sharp warning on Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the historic partnership between ultra-Orthodox parties and the right-wing bloc should no longer be taken for granted ahead of the next election. In an interview with Gideon Okoo and Amichai Attali on Radio 103fm, Asher said he was deeply concerned about the widening rift between the ultra-Orthodox public and the broader Israeli society, and argued that the current political alignment no longer serves his voters’ essential interests.

Asher said the ultra-Orthodox had long paid an ideological price for staying in the right-wing camp. “We swallowed frogs on the settlements issue,” he said, criticizing compromises his camp had made over the years on matters he said were not part of its worldview. He added, “We swallowed quite a few frogs on things that are not part of our worldview, like the settlements issue.”

He then said the right-wing bloc now acts in its own interest rather than in the interest of the ultra-Orthodox. “Today we say that this bloc, the right, takes care of itself, and not of our very heart,” Asher said, referring to core religious priorities. When asked directly whether United Torah Judaism could cooperate after the election with leaders of the so-called change bloc to form an alternative government, Asher did not rule it out.

Instead, he said the ultra-Orthodox now see themselves as an independent political force. “We have our bloc, the Torah bloc, which, from the standpoint of the true worldview, is what protects the people of Israel,” he said. “Whoever joins our bloc and understands that, we can be with him.”