Winter Ally Urges Voters to Keep Supporting Smotrich

Kobi Eliraz, a close friend of former IDF commander Ofer Winter, made surprising comments during a Wednesday interview on Israel's Kan Reshet Bet radio.

When asked whether Winter's potential new party would cause the collapse of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party, Eliraz said he hopes it won't happen. "I'm calling on everyone who votes for Religious Zionism, most of whom live in settlements on the mountain, on Route 60, which is also where both its candidates and voters are from, to continue choosing Smotrich," he said. "I really don't wish for his downfall and I'm not taking votes from him."

When pressed on whether Winter would withdraw if polls showed him failing to cross the electoral threshold, Eliraz responded that Winter is a responsible person who wouldn't destroy the right-wing camp. "The camp only gets stronger from this competition," he added.

Eliraz dismissed speculation about Winter's prospects, saying the campaign is working hard to reach seven or eight seats rather than worrying about threshold scenarios. "Someone who takes on the ambition to build a party and understands all the complications involved, the minuses and pluses, knows what he's doing and isn't going to commit suicide by running into a wall," he said.

Addressing Prime Minister Netanyahu's criticism of Winter's political move, Eliraz pointed to what he called a double standard. "Netanyahu, my dear, you apparently had, as they say, some role in the abandonment of Gideon Sa'ar and Yuli Edelstein," he said, referring to former Likud members who left to form their own parties. "Why didn't you say a word when they established a party? Go bring them down - they're your people. You could have found them a place in Likud, you could have embraced them."