Israel's right-wing political establishment is watching nervously as reserve Lt. Col. Ofer Winter prepares to announce his entry into politics, according to leading political analyst Amit Segal.
Writing in his column on Israel Hayom, Segal revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office views the development with particular concern. "Netanyahu sees the strategic problem in two figures: Feiglin and Winter," Segal wrote, referring to former Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin.
He explained that while Feiglin "is an unguided and uncontrolled missile" whose 2019 run cost the right three Knesset seats and pushed Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked below the electoral threshold, "he has since worn down and weakened." The real threat, according to Segal's assessment, comes from Winter, the former commander of the Givati Brigade.
Next Tuesday, the reserve officer is expected to announce his candidacy for the Knesset at the head of a distinctly right-wing list positioned precisely between Likud and Religious Zionism party voters.
The primary fear among political operatives is a severe vote-splitting scenario within the national-religious and right-wing sectors that could result in critical vote loss. "The chance that both Winter and Smotrich will pass the threshold seems slim," Segal concluded in his column, "and the result would be at least one hundred thousand votes burned either here or there, paving Eisenkot's path to the premiership."
