From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 1, 2026
UTJ leaders meet, said to weigh not recommending any candidate for PM to Herzog
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe leaders of the United Torah Judaism party are meeting to discuss the faction’s position ahead of coalition talks.
Hebrew media outlets publish a photo of party chief MK Yaakov Asher meeting with MK Yitzhak Goldknopf and MK Meir Porush.
בכירי יהדות התורה התכנסו ושוקלים שלא להמליץ על איש לנשיא; ההכרעה תתקבל לאחר התייעצות עם הרבנים@eli_hirschmann pic.twitter.com/U16IZOtl77
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) November 1, 2026
According to several Hebrew media reports, citing a source in the party, the ultra-Orthodox faction is considering not recommending any candidate to form the next government when they meet with President Isaac Herzog.
Herzog will meet with representatives of every faction in the next Knesset, during which the parties will recommend a candidate as the next prime minister. Following last week’s election, neither bloc appears to have the majority necessary to form a coalition.
UTJ has been considered a staunch member of the pro-Netanyahu bloc, though the party has expressed anger that during the coalition’s four years in power it did not succeed in passing a law to exempt ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from the IDF.
The party’s leaders reportedly say during the meeting that they have yet to receive any concrete offer from Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, and therefore there is nothing to discuss on that front.
The Times of Israel Community.