Coalition senior: Winter cost the right the election

A senior coalition figure told Srugim on Tuesday evening that Ofer Winter's insistence on running in the Knesset elections cost the right-wing bloc its majority, according to exit polls released after voting closed. The official said that while the final results are not yet in and the polls show wide variation, the political cost of Winter's candidacy is already visible.

"Given the large gaps between the exit polls, we'll wait for the real results, but according to all the polls, Winter lost many mandates for the right," the official said. "If Winter had not insisted on running, the right would have won decisively."

The remarks came after exit polls showed the current coalition parties falling short of the 61 seats needed to form a government. The official attributed part of the projected result to Winter's decision to run, though the claim is a political one that cannot be confirmed based on exit polls alone.

The coalition figure also addressed Winter's claim that a campaign against him had damaged his chances, dismissing it sharply.

"Winter's claim about the campaign against him is ridiculous. From the first moment he had no chance of passing the threshold, and the campaign only reduced the number of votes that were wasted. Ofer made a mistake in his navigation," he said.

The official argued that the campaign against Winter's candidacy actually reduced the number of votes that would have gone to a list that would not pass the threshold. In doing so, he rejected the possibility that the campaign itself was what prevented Winter from entering the Knesset.