A day after Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman set off a political storm by announcing he would work to force a unity government, without the haredi parties, after the election, the haredi factions are planning their response, and it could be shrewd.
The haredi parties plan to embrace Lieberman and "thank him" for the years of cooperation. They also plan to reveal all the details of every deal they claim to have made with him in recent years, thereby "proving" that Lieberman's attack on the haredim is nothing more than an attempt to score electoral points.
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The haredim find themselves trapped: they know that if they launch an offensive against Lieberman, it will only benefit him, and they also can't promise not to join a coalition of which he is a part. At the same time, they are unwilling to spend the next few months as Yisrael Beytenu's punching bag.
Therefore, the haredim plan to "tell the Israeli public about their cooperation with Lieberman" and demonstrate that despite his attacks, he has helped and supported the haredi factions for years.
"Lieberman is picking a fight with the haredim," one official of a haredi faction told Israel Hayom on Sunday.
"We won't give him one. He wants us to attack him, to drag the discourse to the issues of supermarkets [opening on Shabbat], and all those other disputes. He wants to become a sort of defender of the secular against the haredim, but Lieberman is a liar. All these years, he has worked with the haredim on a lot of issues. He is lying to his public and we'll expose that," the official said.
The haredi factions claim that Lieberman cooperated with the haredim on a number of legislative initiatives, and one haredi official even described Lieberman as a "friend."
"He worked with us against [secular mayoral candidate Ofer] Berkovitch in Jerusalem, and on a lot of other projects. When necessary, he also knew enough to join a government that said it would not promote civil marriage. With him, it's all talk," the haredi official said.
