Golan declares Democrats party will not sit in government with Haredi parties after he appears to suggest otherwise

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan declares he will not sit in government with the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties after the pro-government Channel 14 airs a clip of him telling party activists that he would be willing to do so in order to replace the current coalition.

“If you ask me, are you ruling out the Haredim? I am not ruling out the Haredim. Absolutely not. I can tell you that if now the possibility of forming a government is contingent on an Haredi party joining, I will vote in favor, provided that Likud, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir are not there,” Golan says in a clip broadcast by the pro-Netanyahu outlet yesterday evening. It is unclear when Golan made the comments.

“We mainly need to work smartly with indirect pressure, rather than direct pressure. I want to tell you right here that the entire conscription law people are talking about is tainted with populism. All those who oppose what the government is doing are right to do so. But with what they are proposing, thousands of Haredim will not just enlist tomorrow morning; it is a process,” Golan says in the clip.

In a video posted on the social network X this morning, following the broadcast of his remarks, Golan declares that “the Haredim will be outside [the government], that is a guarantee.”

Golan claims that Channel 14 took his remarks out of context, stating that “the Haredi parties have disqualified themselves, period.”

“You cannot encourage draft evasion during a time of war. You cannot live at the expense of the state without giving back to it. You cannot dictate to millions of Israelis how to marry, how to live, how to travel, and what to wear. And you cannot continue to plunder the public coffers and live off the tax money of the working public. Therefore, when I say we will not sit with the Haredim, I am saying something much deeper. We are done compromising on our values. We will not lend a hand to the corrupt, and we will not continue to surrender to a politics of extortion [and] draft evasion. We will choose ourselves and our values,” Golan declares.

Last week, Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot reportedly met with Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni. 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, causing tension with ally and Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman.