Natan Eshel attacks Ofer Winter: "His goal is to bring down the right"

Natan Eshel, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attacked Ofer Winter and claimed that his party's goal is to harm Smotrich and bring down the right-wing bloc. Eshel said that Winter is "not right-wing" and that he is acting to prevent Smotrich from passing the electoral threshold. Meanwhile, senior Likud members are calling on Netanyahu to consider securing a spot for Yosef Haddad in Likud to prevent his joining Winter.

Natan Eshel, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a sharp attack against Brigadier General (res.) Ofer Winter, who is running in the 2026 elections at the head of a new party. Eshel claimed that Winter is "not right-wing" and that his true goal is to harm the vote accumulation of Bezalel Smotrich and cause him to fail to pass the electoral threshold, thereby bringing down the entire right-wing bloc. According to Eshel, Winter is actually acting to crown Avigdor Lieberman, who together with Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett will form an alternative bloc. Meanwhile, a message is being heard among senior Likud members for Netanyahu to consider securing a spot for Yosef Haddad on the Likud list, to prevent his joining Winter and the establishment of another electoral center to the right of Likud. The analysis in the article indicates that if Winter brings 4-5 mandates from voters who would have stayed home or moved to the other bloc, he is an asset to the right; but if he collects 2.8% from Likud, from Smotrich, from Ben Gvir, and from disappointed right-wing voters and remains outside the Knesset, he may help establish a government headed by the man he declares he does not want to see as prime minister.