Poll Shows Ofer Winter Weakens Right-Wing Bloc and Harms Smotrich

A recent Kantar poll conducted for Kan News reveals that a separate run by Ofer Winter could endanger the Religious Zionism party and weaken the entire right-wing bloc in Israel. According to the poll, if elections were held today, the "Yashar!" party would win 24 seats, Likud 22, and the "Together" party of Bennett and Lapid 14. Other results include the Democrats with 10 seats, Otzma Yehudit 9, Yisrael Beiteinu 9, United Torah Judaism 8, Shas 7, Hadash-Ta'al-Balad 7, Religious Zionism 5, and Ra'am 5.

In this scenario, the right-wing bloc would have 51 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc would hold 57. However, if Ofer Winter runs independently, he would secure 5 seats but cause Smotrich's party to barely pass the electoral threshold, weakening Otzma Yehudit and transferring a seat to Yisrael Beiteinu. This would reduce the right-wing bloc to 50 seats and increase the anti-Netanyahu bloc to 58.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's circle is currently debating how to respond to Winter's party. The current strategy is to attack Winter to diminish his influence, especially after Netanyahu's associates claim Winter was offered a reserved spot on the Likud list but declined.