Candidate leaves Ofer Winter’s slate following pressure, fear of wasting votes

Davidi Ben Zion, a candidate running for the Knesset with Ofer Winter’s People of Israel party, is leaving the race two weeks before the October 27 election, Channel 12 reports.

Ben Zion, the acting head of the Samaria Regional Council, which includes settlements in the northern West Bank, made the decision out of fear that the party would not enter the Knesset, which would mean that its voters’ ballots would go to waste, according to the network. Polls have placed the party on the bubble of entering the Knesset, with some showing it falling short.

Ben Zion also faced a pressure campaign, with pro-Netanyahu activists allegedly putting up billboards calling on him to drop out. The billboards were placed near his home and at the bus stop his children use en route to school, according to Channel 12.

The billboards read, “Davidi, step down! Don’t endanger the country.”

The People of Israel party laments his departure in a statement, thanking him for joining the campaign.

“Dear Davidi, we love you,” it says. “We feel bad about the pressures, the threats and the harassment your children and family were made to endure from those who aren’t ready for new, clean forces to enter Israeli politics. Not everyone can take the illegitimate and despicable pressures that you and your family faced.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly attacked Winter, congratulates Ben Zion on the decision, calling it “important” and telling Winter’s other candidates to follow suit.