Likud Party Slams Ofer Vinter's Party Over Remarks on Liberman

The Likud party launched a sharp attack on Yosef Haddad, the second-in-command in the "Am Yisrael" party led by retired Brigadier General Ofer Vinter. The criticism stems from Haddad's statement that Avigdor Liberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, "could be a worthy partner."

Likud sought to link Haddad's comment to recent reports suggesting Yisrael Beiteinu views Vinter as a potential political ally after the upcoming elections. "Vinter is closed with Liberman," Likud asserted in a statement, intensifying their rhetoric against Vinter's party. They further criticized Liberman, recalling his past actions such as allocating NIS 53 billion to Mansour Abbas, suggesting the handover of Judea and Samaria to the Jordanians, and yielding to Abbas regarding military operations.

Likud concluded their statement by reiterating their election message: "Only Likud will prevent a left-wing government of [Gadi] Eisenkot, [Yair] Golan, Liberman, [Naftali] Bennett, and the Arab parties." This latest offensive follows Likud's increased criticism of Vinter a day prior, reportedly prompted by a report that Yisrael Beiteinu had decided not to target Vinter with personal attacks during the election campaign, partly because they do not rule out him being a post-election partner.

The political relationship between the parties is complex. Vinter himself recently criticized Liberman, stating that someone who considers Yair Golan a potential partner cannot claim to bring about a "decision." However, Vinter has not ruled out Liberman as a partner in a right-wing government in the past. The confrontation between Likud and "Am Yisrael" is escalating as the election campaign progresses. Within Likud, there has been internal debate on how to approach Vinter's party, weighing whether to attack it for potentially drawing votes from the right-wing bloc or to avoid confrontation to prevent strengthening it.