Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, the chairman of the People of Israel party, released on Monday his party’s slate, submitting it at the Knesset along with other parties ahead of the October elections.
The submission of the list closed the door to a merger with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party (RZP). Smotrich had called on Winter to join his alliance with Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin.
The choice not to merge also appeared to defy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pushing small parties to merge to avoid losing votes from the right-wing bloc if they fail to cross the electoral threshold.
Yoseph Haddad receives second slot on People of Israel election list
The released People of Israel list showed Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad receiving the second slot. He consistently advocated for Israel on news outlets and social media during the Israel-Hamas War and has also gone on numerous international speaking tours.
Third on the party’s list is journalist Netali Shem Tom, fourth is Eran Ben-Ari, and fifth is former Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.
The party submitted the list to the Central Elections Committee ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, by which all parties must do so.
Among the parties that submitted their lists were Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad, Yair Golan’s The Democrats, Yoaz Hendel’s The Reservists party, and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit party, also released who was on his list and submitted the slate.
Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party has yet to submit its list and, by press time, did not announce what the final makeup of the slate would be.
The People of Israel party released the first 18 candidates on its slate. Recent polls show the party hovering near the electoral threshold, expected to receive about four or five seats, making the first four candidates most likely to enter the Knesset.
The party has sought to bring together people who were never in the Knesset or part of the political or security failures surrounding the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023.
Winter has also said that he will only recommend Netanyahu to be the country’s next premier.
“The People of Israel party was launched only two weeks ago and has already become a significant player on the political map,” said Winter in a statement after the announcement of the list’s submission.
He added that a reason behind its success was that the party “brings a new spirit that represents the entire spectrum of the population and leads a policy of true right-wing and military decisiveness in all sectors.”
Winter also said that one of the goals of his party is to push for haredi (ultra-Orthodox) enlistment into the IDF “without compromise and without willingness to serve as [United Torah Judaism leader Yitzchak] Goldknopf’s political pawn at the expense of the soldiers.”
Smotrich: Winter's decision to run alone is an 'irresponsible gamble'
The Religious Zionist Party criticized Winter’s decision not to form an alliance, adding that the party would now consider adding additional figures to its slate instead of Winter.
“Smotrich believed that joining forces in the national camp was more important for the good of his party and strengthening it with additional figures,” the RZP statement continued.
“However, now that it seems that Winter has made up his mind to run independently and to gamble irresponsibly on the future of right-wing rule and the State of Israel, he will be free to once again examine the possibility of strengthening Religious Zionism through the chairman’s reserves.”
Winter responded to Smotrich’s comments over the failed merger by saying that his party would not “engage in intimidation.”
“You must also recognize and admit that the public is seeking new people, those who were not part of the events that led us to October 7, those who can lead to a decision in Gaza, to integrate the haredim into the IDF, and to address the variety of challenges that were not addressed in the previous term,” the People of Israel party stated.
“The time has come to bring a new spirit to the right-wing camp and the Israeli Knesset,” it added.