Yahad chairman Eli Yishai is reportedly in negotiations to join Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism. Yishai, formerly the head of Sephardi haredi party Shas and a bitter rival of its current chairman Aryeh Deri, is not vying in the current Knesset election, set for Sept. 17.
Sources familiar with the issue told Israel Hayom that Yishai believes his supporters could potentially give United Torah Judaism, projected to win seven Knesset seats, another mandate, and in return, he demands to be named a minister for the party in the next government.
Shas is also projected to win seven seats in the next Knesset.
Yishai also claims he can get the small, radical Orthodox Noam party to drop out of the race. As Noam is not expected to pass the 3.25% (four-seat) electoral threshold, having it withdraw from the race would prevent wasted votes.
The Noam party denied it has been approached by anyone with a request to drop out of the election race.
Some UTJ insiders doubted Yishai could muster the 35,000 votes necessary to constitute a mandate, saying his base most likely numbers no more than 20,000 supporters. Still, UJT leaders Yakov Litzman and Moshe Gafni said that while they are willing to consider the idea, they would need the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to see it through.
But Netanyahu has so far been unable to find the time to discuss the issue with Litzman and Gafni, UTJ sources said.
An associate of Yishai's said that it appears United Torah Judaism isn't "pressuring Netanyahu enough on the matter," adding the former interior minister demands UTJ make a public announcement on the issue.
