Leitner refused to back down and made clear to Netanyahu: You are going to lose

Moti Leitner, chairman of the Haredi Public Party, refused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to withdraw from the election race. In a late-night meeting, Leitner told Netanyahu he is going to lose the elections, presenting polls showing the right-wing bloc will receive at most 54–55 seats. Leitner demanded financial guarantees for Netanyahu's promises, but he refused.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent an entire night trying to convince Moti Leitner, chairman of the Haredi Public Party, to withdraw from the election race. The meeting took place last Tuesday, on Netanyahu's birthday, between two and four-thirty in the morning. Leitner refused to back down and made clear to Netanyahu that he is going to lose the elections, while presenting in-depth polls showing the right-wing bloc can receive at most 54–55 seats. Leitner, who seeks to recruit Haredim to the IDF and introduce core curriculum studies to Haredi education, demanded financial guarantees for the promises Netanyahu offered him, but Netanyahu refused. Shas chairman Aryeh Deri is also convinced the right-wing bloc cannot cross the 58-seat threshold, according to the article. Leitner estimates he will win close to one hundred thousand votes in the elections.