Ofer Winter, leader of the People of Israel party, declared on Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu is the leader of the right-wing camp and that his party will recommend only Netanyahu for prime minister, while also stating that the party does not work for any individual and will not follow anyone else's lead.
Israeli politician Winter declares support for Netanyahu as prime minister while asserting party independence
Ofer Winter, leader of the People of Israel party, declared on Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu is the leader of the right-wing camp and that his party will recommend only Netanyahu for prime minister, while also stating that the party does not work for any individual and will not follow anyone else's lead.
Winter's statement was aimed at countering a campaign portraying him as a risk to the right-wing bloc — as someone who could help replace Netanyahu or draw votes away from right-wing parties. His declaration closes one line of attack but also narrows the political ambiguity his campaign had previously maintained.
In addition to the Netanyahu commitment, Winter addressed several policy positions — haredi enlistment, voluntary emigration from Gaza, moving from containment to decisive action, and public diplomacy — which his camp presented as differentiating factors for right-wing voters dissatisfied with existing parties.
The declaration could allow Likud voters unhappy with party figures such as Bezalel Smotrich or Itamar Ben-Gvir to support People of Israel without abandoning Netanyahu as their preferred prime minister. Winter's team may have calculated that his greatest electoral potential currently lies within the right-wing electorate rather than among center-right voters who oppose Netanyahu, according to the analysis in the source.
However, the statement also opens a strategic option for Netanyahu: rather than attacking Winter as disloyal to the camp, Likud could embrace him, argue that voters will get Winter in the coalition regardless, and urge supporters to vote for the larger governing party instead. Netanyahu used a comparable approach against former politician Naftali Bennett, who was polling in double digits — at times around 15 seats — before finishing one election with eight seats after Likud presented him as a certain coalition partner and argued voters should strengthen Likud directly.
Winter's statement, as the source notes, did not commit him to refusing to join any government that Netanyahu fails to form. He pledged to recommend Netanyahu to the president but left open his position in a scenario where Netanyahu receives a mandate and is unable to assemble a coalition of 61 seats.
- The source does not state when the Israeli general election is scheduled to take place.
- The source does not provide polling figures for People of Israel or its current seat projection.
- The source does not name the specific election campaign in which Bennett finished with eight seats, beyond describing it as occurring about a decade ago.
- The source does not include any direct response or statement from Netanyahu or Likud to Winter's Thursday declaration.
- The source does not state whether Winter has been formally approached about coalition participation by any party.
- The source does not identify the in-depth research attributed to Winter's campaign team or who conducted it.
Read the original at The Jerusalem Post