Ben-Gvir Refuses Surplus Vote Pact With Ofer Winter's Party
Translated & summarized from i24NEWS by baba
Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party will not sign a surplus vote agreement with Ofer Winter's "Am Yisrael" party. Ben-Gvir cited Winter as "Banet 2," while Winter's party criticized Ben-Gvir's decision as "throwing votes in the trash." The move occurs as "Am Yisrael" struggles in polls, while Otzma Yehudit remains stronger. The deadline for such agreements is Friday.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit will not sign a surplus vote agreement with Ofer Winter's "Am Yisrael" party.
- Ben-Gvir called Winter "Banet 2" in his reasoning for refusing the agreement.
- Winter's party criticized Ben-Gvir, accusing him of "throwing votes in the trash."
- The decision comes as "Am Yisrael" struggles to pass the electoral threshold in recent polls.
- The deadline for signing surplus vote agreements is this Friday.
- Likud and Religious Zionism recently signed a surplus vote agreement.
Otzma Yehudit party chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir announced Tuesday that his party will not sign a surplus vote agreement with Ofer Winter's "Am Yisrael" party. Ben-Gvir stated on the social media platform X that Winter is "Banet 2" and therefore Otzma Yehudit will not sign the agreement.
Ofer Winter's party responded sharply, urging Ben-Gvir to "grow up" and criticizing his decision to "throw votes in the trash" when he previously called the elections "crucial." The party accused Ben-Gvir of focusing on "destroying brothers" instead of "defeating enemies," suggesting that many on the right are repelled by his approach.
The decision comes as "Am Yisrael" has seen its support weaken in recent polls, hovering around the electoral threshold. A recent i24NEWS poll showed "Am Yisrael" at 4 seats and Otzma Yehudit at 9 seats.
The deadline for signing surplus vote agreements is this Friday. Last week, the Likud and Religious Zionism parties signed an agreement to bolster the latter, deemed most at risk of not passing the electoral threshold among coalition parties. Likud also decided not to sign an agreement with Winter's party, as some polls indicate it may not pass the threshold.
