Ofer Winter, chairman of the People of Israel party, is endangering the right-wing camp and should withdraw from the upcoming election, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) told 103FM on Thursday morning.
“The greatest danger to the right is not the Left, it is the Right itself. In 1992, despite the fact that the right received more votes, the left formed a government,” Ohana claimed.
“There is a danger that Winter’s party will not pass the electoral threshold and will throw votes away. I remind you that Ayelet Shaked together with Naftali Bennett, with the ‘strong right’ that would fight Hamas and the High Court of Justice, did not pass the electoral threshold. So Ofer Winter will pass the electoral threshold?" Ohana queried.
Ohana said that he had called for Winter to unite, but that the deadline has passed.
“Winter needs to withdraw, he is endangering the right-wing camp. If he wants Netanyahu to be prime minister, then he should withdraw,” the Knesset speaker said.
Ohana dismisses concerns of Yashar beating Likud in polls
Later in the interview, Ohana was asked whether he was concerned that Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party had overtaken Likud in polling by around four seats.
MK Ohana dismissed the concern and argued that polls had never favored his party. “I ask you, in which election campaigns did the mainstream polls give Likud a victory? I don’t remember such a thing, and yet Likud has been the governing party for many years.”
“I remember the 2015 election, when I entered the Knesset. The most favorable polls gave us 24 seats and the toughest gave us 18 seats, and in the end we received 30 seats.”
Ohana also addressed Likud’s decline in the polls and its partnership with the haredi parties. He said, “We are paying a price for the alliances,” but defended his support for the enlistment law, claiming that if it had passed, “we would have seen thousands of haredim who do not currently enlist enlist.”
In response to his comments during the interview, Winter attacked Ohana. “Likud failed in its attempt to reserve slots for senior members of People of Israel,” he said. “The more you attack, the more we will grow and strengthen. What was will not be again.”
The People of Israel party also responded to Amir Ohana’s comments, saying that the People of Israel was seeking to refresh the government's ranks.
“We will not sink into the politics of fear. The right must acknowledge that the public is seeking new people, those who were not part of the events that led to October 7, those who can lead to a decisive outcome in Gaza, integrate haredi (ultra-Orthodox) people into the IDF, and address everything that was not handled during the previous term.
“It is time to bring a new spirit into the right-wing camp and into the Knesset.”
People of Israel is 'here to stay,' party claims
The People of Israel party also said that it was not a coincidence that the Likud party had "pursued reserving slots for senior members of the People of Israel party until the last moment and failed."
The party claimed that its field operation and 94 headquarters spread across the country were reporting a surge of young people and voters from across the spectrum, from the periphery and the center, toward People of Israel.
“We recommend that those Likud MKs internalize that People of Israel is on its way to becoming the surprise of the election. People of Israel is here to stay, and we recommend remembering that there is also a day after," the party announced.
“It has already been proven that the more you attack, the more we will grow and strengthen. What was will not be again; we will pass a law for those who serve. We will take care of reservists and act with determination to achieve victory.”