Eisenkot met Gafni after Haredi faction’s rabbi called to dissolve Knesset last week — report

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot met with Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni last week after the Haredi party’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Dov Lando, called to dissolve the Knesset and declared his faction’s separation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing bloc, Channel 12 reports.

According to the network, it remains unclear what was said during the meeting and spokespeople for both politicians declined to comment on the matter. Eisenkot, who has indicated that he supports granting service exemptions for up to three percent of Haredim, has said that he maintains good relations with the Haredim, despite differences of opinion. He recently generated anger by stating that he would join a coalition “with those who strengthen Israel” when asked if he would sit with the Haredi parties.

This has caused tension with other opposition bloc leaders.

Asked last week by Army Radio about the possibility of a merger with Eisenkot, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said there were “fundamental gaps” that “need to be cleared up before a merger.”

Liberman said Yisrael Beytenu was “unwilling to give up even a millimeter on the full conscription law,” referring to the effort to draft ultra-Orthodox men, who currently enjoy broad de facto exemptions from mandatory military service.