Winter says Netanyahu to blame if his party fails to pass electoral threshold

People of Israel party chairman Ofer Winter says he will hold Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible if his party fails to pass the electoral threshold, accusing him of undermining the right-wing camp.

Recent polls have consistently placed Winter’s party below the threshold. Speaking at a Yedioth Ahronoth conference, Winter says Netanyahu is “responsible for the right’s collapse,” following repeated attacks by the premier and Likud against People of Israel.

“He doesn’t stop, he doesn’t let up, and he’s shooting us in the back even though we’re a right-wing party,” Winter says. “If you shoot yourself in the foot, don’t be surprised when you limp afterward.”

Winter says he would accept the possibility that his party does not enter the Knesset after the October 27 election. “If the public doesn’t want the product, I’ll say, ‘Great, thank you,'” he says.

He also calls on right-wing politicians in both blocs, including Netanyahu, B’Yachad chairman Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, to “stop fighting,” saying Israel needs “a broad right-wing government.”

Winter says he last spoke with Netanyahu about two months ago and denies coordinating campaign messaging with him.

“Since then we’ve only been fighting,” he says, adding that Netanyahu had initially “wanted me on his side – as a candidate for defense minister.”