Netanyahu Warns Right-Wing Voters on Electoral Threshold

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched his election campaign Monday with a video message warning right-wing voters not to support smaller parties that risk failing to cross Israel's electoral threshold.

In the video, Netanyahu invoked the 1992 elections as a cautionary tale. "There were elections, Likud against Labor, right against left, and there were people on the right who were angry at Shamir for one reason or another, and they established parties to the right of the right," he said. "Some of them didn't pass the threshold, and the left came to power."

Netanyahu argued that Israel paid a heavy price for that outcome. "We paid with thousands murdered and thousands wounded, and we're still dealing with the problem from the mistake that the right-wing splinters made when they brought down the right-wing government," he stated.

The prime minister questioned whether voters would repeat that error. "Are we going to make this mistake again? I hope not, but I'm hearing about many parties being established here saying 'we know everything, we'll do everything,'" he continued. "What needs to be done is the exact opposite, not to establish splinter parties that will only burn our votes."

Netanyahu concluded with a direct appeal: "Don't waste your vote on small parties that might not pass the threshold and bring the left to power. This can be prevented. Don't burn votes, and preserve the right."

Netanyahu's video follows reports last week of deep concern in the prime minister's circle regarding the potential political entry of retired Lieutenant Colonel Ofer Winter. According to journalist Amiel Yeraḥi's report, Netanyahu has been warning in private conversations about a scenario where a Winter candidacy could severely damage the right-wing bloc and result in the loss of critical Knesset seats.

The report quoted Netanyahu directly: "I don't trust Winter. Either he'll burn votes for the right or he'll take votes from the right and transfer them to a government headed by Eisenkot, together with Bennett and Yair Golan."

According to the reporting, the main obstacle surrounding Winter's potential moves lies in his strict conditions regarding potential political partners. Winter currently refuses to sit in a party with anyone who was part of the October 7 failures, but also rejects Gideon Sa'ar, who was not part of the government at the time.

Winter's associates, according to the report, reject these characterizations and clarify that "he won't give a hand to a government with Eisenkot." However, political observers point to his history of relationships with figures like Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman, understanding that the retired colonel's entry into the political arena creates significant headaches for Likud—or as the report summarized: "A new player, many problems."