From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Netanyahu pushing for Charedi Public party to drop out of race — report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for the Charedi Public, an ultra-Orthodox party with relatively moderate stances on IDF enlistment, education and employment, to suspend its campaign with nine days to go until the October 27 election, Channel 12 reports.
Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chair of the far-right Religious Zionism party, are pushing for the Haredi party to drop out because they worry that it will not receive enough votes to enter the Knesset. In that case, those votes would be wasted, rather than presumably going to pro-Netanyahu factions.
No poll has shown the party winning enough votes to enter the Knesset.
The report says that party chair Moti Leitner wants to be a member of Knesset or a government minister, but that Netanyahu and Smotrich are presenting other offers, which the report does not specify.
The party says in a statement reported by the network, “We do not have the privilege of stepping away. We cannot step away. We have a large public that we will represent.״
The party claims it will be the “surprise of the election.”
More from today’s Liveblog:
The Times of Israel Community.