Senior Likud officials brief against Ofer Winter: "Not part of the right-wing bloc"

Against the backdrop of Ofer Winter's announcement of the establishment of his new party, senior Likud officials clarify that as far as they are concerned, he is not part of the right-wing bloc: "Let him go and scrape votes from the other camp. The existing parties in the current right-wing bloc are not only of right-wing views but are also committed to the camp and its victory. So far, apart from statements that he is right-wing and that he opposes Gadi Eisenkot as prime minister, we have not heard from Winter any statement that includes taking responsibility for the bloc's victory - he did not announce that he would withdraw and would not throw votes away, and he also did not say that he would act responsibly if he saw that his candidacy was harming the bloc by bringing down another party and thus preventing the camp's victory."

Netanyahu's people are very concerned about the complete disconnect that exists between them and Winter, something that in their opinion indicates that Winter is trying to promote his candidacy and is interested in being a Knesset member, no matter in which government. Another scenario that Netanyahu's people fear is joining after the elections with Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett, into a right-wing axis bypassing Netanyahu, and they recall that in the past Winter had extensive contacts with the two, as someone who spoke as a senior commander in the IDF quite a bit with Bennett when he was a minister and cabinet member in Netanyahu's government during Operation Protective Edge, and also as the military secretary of Lieberman as Minister of Defense.

The Prime Minister's people also recall that Netanyahu wanted to appoint Winter as his military secretary but the move was blocked by the then-Chief of Staff, which forced Netanyahu to appoint another military secretary in his place - Roman Gofman, something that may have left Winter hurt by Netanyahu and not committed to being the leader of the camp. On the other hand, senior Likud officials say that if, despite the messages that Winter is not part of the right-wing camp, he still manages to bring votes of right-wing voters who are currently parked in parties from the other camp such as Benny Gantz, Bennett, Lieberman, Eisenkot or Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper, and does not harm any of the existing right-wing parties - Netanyahu will certainly be happy to cooperate with him in the next coalition.

Ahead of the announcement this evening, Winter's people clarify that he is a distinct right-wing man, striving for a military decision, and even paid a personal price for his beliefs and views - which blocked his promotion in the IDF and were the cause of the veto imposed by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on his appointment as the Prime Minister's military secretary. According to them, there are between 15 and 25 mandates of right-wing people who do not want to vote for any of the current coalition parties, some due to the criticism of the October 7 failure and some due to the walking too closely for their taste with the Haredi factions - and they are the audience Winter is addressing. According to them, only an additional party, beyond the three existing ones, will bring the camp's victory.

"The attempt to put the same people at the head of the same parties and expect that despite the grim situation in the polls the right will win, is the mistake that the entire camp will pay for." They also said that unlike parties that disguise themselves as right-wing, Winter has clear right-wing views, and also unlike the party of Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein who say they will force unity and will not complete the 61st finger for Netanyahu to establish a full right-wing government, Winter explicitly announces that he will give his finger for the establishment of a right-wing government and will not try to force unity or add another party from the left camp as a condition for his joining. This evening, Winter will present his new party, including its name and the new list members, which are based, according to them, on right-wing people from a variety of backgrounds who appeal to all layers of the right-wing population in Israel, and are not painted in a uniform color like the Religious Zionism of Smotrich or the Otzma Yehudit of Ben Gvir.