Winter's Givati battle letter returns in election campaign

Ofer Winter, chairman of the Amcha Yisrael party, has brought back one of the most controversial texts of his military career for his election campaign.

A new campaign broadcast, revealed first on Srugim, features the battle letter Winter wrote to Givati Brigade troops at the start of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, a letter that sparked public uproar and became a rallying point among his supporters on the right.

The broadcast shows a reservist preparing to leave for duty as the letter is read aloud. The text, written on the eve of battle, now takes on a political meaning, and the video closes with the message: "IDF soldiers come first."

Winter's campaign broadcast
Credit: Amcha Yisrael — Winter's campaign broadcast Credit: Amcha Yisrael (עמך ישראל)

The letter that became a symbol

In July 2014, when he commanded the Givati Brigade, Winter wrote a "commander's page for battle" to his soldiers. Alongside emphasising the mission and the willingness to take risks for the defence of families, the people and the homeland, he wove in messages of faith and prayer.

"History has chosen us to be at the spearhead of the battle against the Gazan terrorist enemy, which blasphemes and reviles the G-d of the armies of Israel," he wrote at the time.

He continued: "I lift my eyes to heaven and call with you, 'Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad.' Hashem, G-d of Israel, may You grant success to our path as we go forth to fight for Your people Israel against the enemy that reviles Your name."

The letter triggered a wide public debate over the place of religious messages in commanders' orders in the IDF. Winter's critics argued that the language gave the fighting the character of a religious war; his supporters on the right defended the connection between the military mission and Jewish faith and tradition.

Now Winter has brought the letter back to the front, this time as an election candidate. The words "Amcha Yisrael", Your people Israel, which appeared in the prayer he composed for his troops, take on an additional meaning in the broadcast: the name of the party he leads.