Avi Benayahu: Winter will be the end of the Religious Zionism of Smotrich, Struk, and Rothman
Former IDF Spokesperson Avi Benayahu referred to the launch of Ofer Winter's party and assessed that he will win support among hesder yeshiva students, pre-military academies, and right-wing supporting IDF soldiers. "In Religious Zionism, they…
Assessment
Former IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu injects a sharp political prediction into the fledgling campaign of Ofer Winter, arguing Winter's new party will drain support from the religious Zionist base that currently backs Bezalel Smotrich, Orit Strock, and Simcha Rothman. Benayahu frames Winter as a fresh, military-service-positive alternative untainted by the October 7 failures, which he suggests makes him a serious threat to both Netanyahu and the existing religious Zionist leadership. The assessment's credibility hinges on whether Winter can actually convert buzz among hesder yeshiva students and combat soldiers into votes, and whether Smotrich's camp can absorb this challenge without fracturing.