Amcha Yisrael party chairman Ofer Winter rejected an offer Wednesday evening from Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich to withdraw from the Knesset race in exchange for a ministerial position in the Defense Ministry.
In a statement, Winter made clear that his party would continue running in the elections, accused figures within the right-wing camp of attempting to exert heavy pressure on him and his associates, and declared that he would not automatically agree to support a future government, even if it were composed of right-wing parties.
"We are part of the right-wing camp," Winter emphasized, but immediately clarified that his political affiliation does not constitute an unconditional commitment to support any party.
"There will be no blank check here. I said yes, and I said but. If they give, they'll receive. If they don't give, they won't receive."
His remarks followed Smotrich's public offer, in which he announced that he was prepared to allocate Winter a ministerial position in the Defense Ministry from the quota of positions that the Religious Zionist Party would demand during coalition negotiations.
The proposal included responsibility for establishing a directorate to promote voluntary emigration from Gaza and another directorate to oversee haredi military recruitment and integration into the workforce, in exchange for the Amcha Yisrael party withdrawing from the election race.
Winter rejected the proposal, making clear that, as far as he was concerned, entering politics was not about securing a government appointment but about bringing change to the leadership's approach and the country's priorities.
"I heard Smotrich, who previously falsely claimed that he had offered me the top spot in his party, offering me another position this evening, in a government that hasn't even been formed yet," Winter said.
"Friends, you've got it all wrong. We didn't come here for a job, as you've become accustomed to doing. We came to bring change. We came to lead the way."
According to Winter, Amcha Yisrael's goal in running for the Knesset is to provide representation for right-wing voters who do not see themselves reflected in the existing parties, both because of political boycotts between parties that define themselves as right-wing and because of the conduct of the outgoing coalition.
"We entered the political arena to offer a leadership alternative to a huge right-wing public that refuses to accept that it has only two options," he said.
Winter argued that some parties that identify as right-wing boycott other elements within the camp, while the parties of the outgoing coalition, he claimed, surrender to political interests and the distribution of positions at the public's expense.
The Amcha Yisrael chairman explained that his party seeks to focus on the needs of reservists, combat soldiers, young people, and residents of Israel's peripheral regions.
He claimed that since announcing his entry into politics and presenting his demands, he has faced attacks from figures belonging specifically to the right-wing camp.
"From the moment we said that we deserve more - for those who serve, for young people, for soldiers, for the periphery - we were subjected to ugly and unimaginable attacks, primarily from within our own camp," he claimed.
Winter went on to make serious allegations regarding measures that he said had been taken against his party's candidates and their families.
Among other things, he alleged harassment of candidates and their children, the use of private investigators, pressure on rabbis, and even the performance of a Pulsa Denura curse ritual against a mother who lost a child in Israel's war.
According to Winter, the conduct he described reflects the political culture his party seeks to change.
"The politics of yesterday. The kind of politics that people are fleeing from, and because of which good, decent people stay away from the political arena. We will not surrender to it," he declared.
Winter laid out explicit demands as conditions for his party's support for the next government.
The first is the advancement of a law establishing the status of those who serve, which he said is intended to support combat soldiers and change the country's priorities.
"If they give us a law recognizing the status of those who serve, one that takes care of our soldiers and changes the country's priorities, they will receive our support. If they don't, they won't," he clarified.
Another demand concerns Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip.
Winter declared that his party would also condition its support on being given the opportunity to lead measures aimed at defeating the enemy and promoting voluntary emigration from Gaza.
"If they allow us to lead the effort to achieve victory and promote voluntary emigration in Gaza, they will receive our support. If they don't, they won't. It's very simple," he said.
Addressing possible coalition arrangements after the elections, Winter made clear that his party would not participate in forming a government with Yair Golan.
"We are people of our word. We will not take our votes and establish a government with Yair Golan. That will never happen," he pledged.
At the same time, he criticized the possibility of a right-wing government dependent on the haredi parties and their leadership, presenting Amcha Yisrael as an alternative that would enable the formation of a government with different priorities.
"When we are strong, there will be no Golan-Abbas government. When we are strong, there will be no Netanyahu government dependent on Goldknopf and the political operatives."
Later in his speech, the Amcha Yisrael chairman also addressed concerns that his party might fail to cross the electoral threshold, an issue at the center of calls for him to withdraw.
"Don't believe the scare tactics. Don't believe the fake news and the blatant lies," he said.
"In recent days, we have felt the public awakening. Hundreds of thousands of undecided voters who now have someone to vote for, and hundreds of thousands more who are afraid because of the scare tactics they are hearing."