Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, who leads the People of Israel party, announced on Wednesday that his recently launched party would not join the next government unless a law to enforce conscription to the IDF is passed beforehand.
“We will not join a government that does not pass, before it is formed, a law that puts an end to draft evasion and requires everyone to report for service and contribute,” Winter said.
“If that does not happen, we will not be in the government. Full stop,” he added.
“Every young person of service age will report to the state. No sector is above the law. Those who serve will receive. Those who contribute more will receive much more,” Winter continued.
Winter made the announcement ahead of next week’s approaching deadline for submitting all party lists before the October elections.
Party 'not closing the door to alliances'
He stated that the party was “not closing the door to alliances,” but would only consider joining forces with “new and clean people,” indicating unwillingness to merge with existing parties from the current Knesset.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the far-right Religious Zionist Party, had called on Winter to join him and Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin in a joint run earlier in the day.
Winter’s party includes Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad and former Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, as well as reservists and bereaved relatives.
It 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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be the country’s next premier.
During his remarks on Wednesday, he stated that he was “part of the right-wing camp” and would not join opposition figures such as B’Yachad leader Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman
Winter did not directly mention prime ministerial candidate Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar party, in his remarks.
Combating crime and strengthening Arab-Israeli identity a goal for Haddad
Haddad, second on the faction’s list, also said on Wednesday that the party would put combating crime, particularly in Arab society, at the top of its agenda.
He said that it would “work to strengthen an Arab-Israeli identity in place of a Palestinian identity throughout Arab-Israeli educational institutions.”
Haddad stated that the party would want to see a government in which Winter is defense minister.
He added that the party has planned to demand the revival of the Public Diplomacy Ministry. The current government agreed to shut down the ministry in 2023.
Haddad said that the demand will be for “an influential Public Diplomacy Ministry, with a massive budget, that will fight for the reputation of the State of Israel and enable the state to carry out all the military activity necessary to ensure its security and the security of its citizens.”