Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu is expected to create greater public distance between himself and Israel’s chareidi parties as the next election campaign approaches, according to a report Monday evening by Kan News, even as he seeks to preserve the cohesion of the right-wing coalition.

Senior Likud officials told the broadcaster that Netanyahu intends to emphasize that separation as campaigning intensifies.

“As we get closer to the elections and the campaign begins, Netanyahu plans to deepen the separation from the Chareidim and try to distance himself from them publicly,” one senior party official said.

Another senior Likud figure said the prime minister will have to strike a careful political balance.

“He will have to walk a tightrope so as not to attack the Chareidim directly and damage the bloc,” the official said.

The report comes amid renewed tensions within Israel’s right-wing camp over military service and public support for IDF soldiers. Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu weighed in after remarks by the rosh yeshiva, Rav Dov Landau, criticizing elements of the Religious Zionist community sparked widespread controversy.

Although Netanyahu did not mention Rav Landau by name, he wrote that “IDF soldiers deserve deep appreciation, gratitude, and the full backing of every segment of the public, certainly including the Torah world.” He added that Israel’s soldiers—religious, secular, and chareidi alike—risk their lives to defend the country.

Netanyahu adviser Yonatan Urich also entered the debate, writing: “Better late than never: Do not speak disparagingly about IDF soldiers. I repeat and emphasize: Do not speak disparagingly about IDF soldiers. Not perhaps, not indirectly, not because of something else, not at all.”

Urich also responded to a clarification issued by Rav Landau’s office, which stated that “It is unclear what Netanyahu is condemning. The rav did not speak about Religious Zionist soldiers themselves. He was referring to a theoretical halachic discussion about a situation in which the state sends soldiers to war for its own honor rather than for an existential war. Nothing more.”

Rejecting that explanation, Urich wrote: “That is the most distorted clarification I have ever seen. Here’s a suggestion: Let the political operatives keep quiet for 99 days so that we can win the election.”

{Matzav.com}