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Winter launches Amcha Yisrael
Retired IDF general Ofer Winter launched his new right-wing party, Amcha Yisrael, ahead of Israel’s election, saying at the party’s launch event, "There is one solution in Gaza: migration."
“There is one solution in Gaza: migration”
Haaretz reported Winter’s announcement that "There is only one solution for Gaza – emigration," framing him as a new far-right figure who could draw votes from Smotrich or the right flank of the anti-Netanyahu bloc.
Ynetglobal said Winter unveiled a slate that includes Yoseph Haddad as number two, along with television journalist Netali Shem Tov and figures including Sigal Kraunik-Atia, widow of Be’eri security coordinator Arik Kraunik, who was killed defending the kibbutz on October 7.
The Jerusalem Post said Winter’s entry into the race was part of a right-wing shakeup, with a Walla poll projecting Winter’s Amcha Yisrael Party potentially securing six seats in the Knesset while Bezalel Smotrich’s faction fell below the electoral threshold with 2.6% of the vote.
Haddad seeks Hasbara
Yoseph Haddad, described by The Jerusalem Post as a public diplomacy activist, announced on Tuesday that he was joining Winter’s Amcha Yisrael party as its number two after public speculation about whether he’d enter politics.
Haddad told The Jerusalem Post, "I will be the next Hasbara minister," arguing that public diplomacy is inseparable from Israel's national security and saying he aimed to be Israel’s next public diplomacy minister and the first Arab member of Israel's security cabinet.
In the same announcement, Haddad said, "We will bring to the decision-making table the voice of a proud Israeli Arab who understands the enemy, thinks like him, and lives the regional mentality," and he added that he hoped Winter would become Israel’s next defense minister.
The Jerusalem Post also reported Haddad’s claim that his party would be a "new slate free of career politicians" and that the public had grown tired of "cheap politics," while he attacked Arab parties and said, "I despise them" for what he described as working for Gaza, Jenin, and Ramallah.
Polls and coalition math
Haaretz reported a Channel 13 poll projecting that Likud would plunge to 19 Knesset seats, while the opposition bloc would win 57 seats, and it projected the Arab parties at 15 seats.
“Likud plunges to 19 seats”
In that Channel 13 poll, Haaretz said the newly announced "Amkha Yisrael" party led by ex-IDF general Ofer Winter (2.2 percent) would not pass the electoral threshold, while the poll projected Yisrael Beiteinu at nine seats and Otzma Yehudit, United Torah Judaism and Shas each at eight seats.
The Jerusalem Post, citing a Walla poll, said Winter’s party would secure six seats, Smotrich’s faction would fall below the threshold with 2.6%, and Netanyahu’s bloc would receive only 43 seats, leaving it short of the majority needed to form a government even if Winter joined the coalition.
Ynetnews said that with less than two weeks before the deadline for parties to submit candidate slates for the Knesset election, Netanyahu still had reserved slots he could use, including keeping positions available for possible alliances on the right between far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich or between Likud and Smotrich.