Netanyahu reveals: "I met with Winter and offered him to join the Likud"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a guest this evening (Sunday) on the "Patriots" program for a special interview with Yinon Magal, in the midst of the election campaign and against the backdrop of tension within the right-wing bloc. During the conversation, the PM addressed Ofer Winter's entry into the political arena and the establishment of the "Amcha Yisrael" party, expressing concern that an independent run would harm the bloc.

When asked about it, Netanyahu said:

"I am concerned that this party could do one of two things – either burn votes or cause the fall of one of the parties I spoke about."

The Prime Minister revealed that he met with Winter a few weeks ago and offered him to join the Likud:

"I approached him a few weeks ago for a conversation and we met. I told him, look, there are two options – come to us and be welcomed, or go your own separate way."

According to him, Winter chose to run independently – a decision that he claims now creates a risk for the camp: "He chose to go separately, and we are currently, in my opinion, in danger." Netanyahu also addressed Winter's declaration that he would support him for Prime Minister, but expressed reservations about the way the commitment was phrased: "Winter said he would support me, that is fine and that is correct, but he added 'but', and 'but' is an escape hatch."

Later, Netanyahu compared Winter to Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich: "I sometimes have criticisms of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, but they do not come with a 'but'. They say: we recommend the Likud led by me. The 'but' worries me very much."

Netanyahu also mentioned Naftali Bennett's commitment before the 2021 elections not to form a government with the left: "Bennett also came without a 'but', and by signing a form on this channel, he swore 24 hours before the polls opened that he would not go with the left, and then did the exact opposite."

Regarding the way forward with Winter, Netanyahu called for a dialogue aimed at preventing the loss of votes in the right-wing bloc: "We need to talk among ourselves and see how to prevent a situation where his party's votes are burned. He brings votes only from the right today, almost none from those who think about Bennett, Lieberman, and Eisenkot."

The Prime Minister's arrival for the interview comes at a dramatic political timing, in the midst of the election campaign and in the shadow of the struggle he is managing in an attempt to prevent the loss of votes in the right-wing bloc. Just in the last few days, Netanyahu called on Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to unite, arguing that a split run could jeopardize the camp's victory and leave parties identified with it below the electoral threshold.

The call for unity led to a sharp public confrontation with Ben Gvir, who rejected the possibility of a joint run with Smotrich and even accused Netanyahu of trying to weaken Otzma Yehudit. Over the weekend, the confrontation intensified even further, when Ben Gvir called Netanyahu's move a "cynical game," this while the political system enters a significant stretch ahead of the elections and against the backdrop of contacts between Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin.