SOURCE: ARUTZ SHEVA

Meir Porush, Deputy Education Minister Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) is confident that the Likud and its allies will win a majority in the upcoming Knesset election, paving the way for the establishment of a right-wing – religious government. Speaking in an interview with Arutz Sheva, Porush said it is likely that the Yamina party will agree to join a Netanyahu-led government, noting that Yamina chief MK Naftali Bennett has carefully refrained from vowing not to sit in a Likud government.Without mentioning the Religious Zionist Party by name, Porush warned that a right-wing victory in the upcoming election would be heavily dependent on the rightist bloc not losing votes on a party which fails to cross the electoral threshold. Porush suggested that ‘hardal’, or haredi-National Religious voters would back UTJ, touting his party’s opposition to the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan and the plan for Israeli sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria.“ Less than a year ago, I asked [Amana chief] Zambish [Hever] to help me understand the map, which no one knew about. After I saw the map, I asked Zambish to explain to me what would happen to every settlement. I showed it to the rabbis, and they were horrified and understood what the implications were. When I stood before the Knesset, Netanyahu knew we wouldn’t support it, he understood that we aren’t in his pocket and that we won’t back handing over territories.” “In June, we published the map, showing which areas would be ceded to a Palestinian state. We gave the information to officials in the US administration, so they wouldn’t think that we’d be willing to surrender parts of Judea and Samaria.”