Netanyahu said to call Charedi Public leader to pressure him to quit race

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally intervened in efforts to persuade Moti Leitner’s Charedi Public party to withdraw from next week’s election, speaking with Leitner by phone on Saturday evening, according to Channel 12.

Netanyahu’s associates have also recently held several meetings with Leitner, offering to advance policies important to his party, the report says.

Leitner says he does not feel he has the “moral right” to quit the race.

The party says it will stay in the election. Its priorities include funding for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, an agreed-upon military conscription plan and core curriculum studies for the Haredi community.

Leitner says Likud and the Haredi parties missed their chance to reach an agreement before the party lists closed last month, adding that he is now less willing to cooperate and does not trust their promises.

No poll has shown Charedi Public winning enough votes to enter the Knesset, raising the prospect that its support could be wasted if it falls short of the 3.25% electoral threshold.

The pressure campaign has also targeted Ofer Winter’s People of Israel party, which has hovered around the threshold in recent polls. Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met with Rabbi Eli Sadan, Winter’s spiritual mentor, earlier today in an effort to persuade Winter to withdraw.