Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met with Rabbi Eli Sadan in Eli on Tuesday to press right-wing newcomer Ofer Winter to withdraw from the upcoming Knesset elections, triggering a public clash over military service laws and political survival.
The high-stakes intervention inside the West Bank settlement of Eli came just a week before the vote as internal polling revealed mounting peril for the governing bloc.
Netanyahu sat down for roughly an hour and a half with Rabbi Sadan. Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich joined him. Rabbi Sadan is a co-founder of the Bnei David pre-military academy and Winter’s former mentor.
Academy co-founder Rabbi Yigal Levinshtein and high yeshiva head Rabbi Yehuda Sadan attended the meeting. The prime minister’s chief of staff, Ido Norden, and Smotrich’s campaign manager, Omer Rahamim—both graduates of the Eli institutions—joined the delegation alongside Likud campaign director Zvi Brot.
The visiting leaders presented the rabbis with private deep-dive opinion polls indicating that Winter’s party, Emach Yisrael, risks falling short of the electoral threshold. A Channel 12 survey published on Monday put the party at 2.8%.
Ofer Winter Resists Withdrawal Pressure
Winter refused to yield to the behind-the-scenes maneuver, firing back through a series of sharp video messages released as the meeting unfolded.
He accused Netanyahu and Smotrich of orchestrating an aggressive campaign to pressure his rabbinical teachers into silencing his independent run.
Netanyahu, I heard that you and Smotrich are on your way to Rabbi Eli Sadan to pressure me to withdraw. Folks, get it through your heads: The people of Israel want a different kind of politics. The people of Israel are sick of the ugly, unethical campaign you've led and the crooked ways you're using. Ofer
Despite the intense pressure, Winter’s campaign is pressing forward. The party has booked the prestigious Hangar 11 venue at the Tel Aviv Port as its central election-night headquarters to host activists and candidates as exit polls roll in.
Writing to internal party candidates, Winter dismissed the establishment push as a cruel intimidation campaign
and insisted that internal tracking shows momentum, pointing to a gain of a full percentage point in recent polling.
Bezalel Smotrich Denounces Winter Defiance
Smotrich responded to Winter’s defiance with a personal video message on Wednesday morning, expressing deep frustration over a half-year freeze in direct communication. The finance minister claimed Winter had treated him as radioactive and refused all direct consultations.
First of all, it's a real shame we're talking through videos. You've been boycotting me for half a year; I've become radioactive. You refuse to meet, refuse to talk, refuse to consult and think together. After all, we're on the same side; both of us want what's best for the State of Israel, both of us want the national camp to win. Bezalel
While insisting he holds a significant public role, Smotrich condemned the independent run as reckless endangerment of the entire right-wing nationalist bloc.
He argued that Winter’s attacks on the prime minister directly contradicted his own stated desire for clean, positive politics.
You rightly say that we need to deal with what we're good at and not trample on others, and then this whole video—and in fact your entire campaign—is one big trampling on the prime minister and me. Bezalel
Smotrich concluded his appeal with a direct warning: You got lost in navigation. It’s not too late to stop and correct course.
Rabbi Sadan Rebukes Investigation Tactics
The intervention by Netanyahu and Smotrich followed an extraordinary public statement issued last Saturday night by Rabbi Sadan, who condemned what he called an unacceptable descent into dirty campaign tactics against Emach Yisrael candidates.
The rabbi cited private investigators deployed to Winter’s home, offensive posters hung in synagogues, and harassment directed at candidates’ children, declaring that all lines have been crossed. While declining to endorse any specific political slate, Sadan praised Winter as a man of absolute integrity who rose to the rank of brigadier general because commanders recognized his unique capabilities.
Inside the ruling Likud party, leaked internal WhatsApp group exchanges among field activists revealed sharp divisions over the aggressive strategy deployed against Winter. While some campaigners argued that keeping Winter below the threshold is essential to block a government of Eisenkot, others warned that the attacks have backfired and demanded a complete change in campaign direction before election day.
Winter himself has broadened his offensive, tying the efforts to sideline his candidacy to the political demands of ultra-Orthodox coalition parties. He criticized coalition partners for clinging to a conscription law that preserves the status quo, drawing a sharp contrast with his own platform.
Emach Yisrael has made its proprietary military service bill an absolute condition for joining any future government. Whoever serves will receive more, and whoever does not, will not, Winter declared, pledging to enter only a broad, right-wing Zionist government that knows how to pass our Servants’ Law.