Amcha Yisrael Party Chairman Ofer Winter said in an interview with Channel 12 on Wednesday that he is having second thoughts about his decision to announce at the beginning of the campaign that he would only recommend Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister.
"Sometimes I consider whether it's correct or not, but it's not relevant. I am a man of truth and part of the nationalist camp. Even if they slander us, I'm not going to say now that I'll go to the other side. It may not have been correct to say at the beginning," Winter stated.
Amid the campaign to pressure Winter to withdraw from the race, Religious Zionist Chairman Minister Bezalel Smotrich is expected to make an announcement at 6:00 pm.
There are assessments that Smotrich plans to offer Winter one of the Religious Zionist Party's ministerial positions in the next government if he withdraws.
Winter's remarks come shortly after Prime Minister Netanyahu called him to withdraw from the race for the 26th Knesset after dozens of bereaved families from the recent war published a letter urging him to withdraw as well.
"Ofer Winter, listen to the bereaved families, show responsibility and withdraw, for the sake of right-wing victory!" Netanyahu stated.
Netanyahu's statement comes just six days before election day, amid concerns in the pro-Netanyahu bloc that Winter's party will not pass the electoral threshold, leading to a loss of votes that could swing the election in the bloc's favor.
Earlier in the day, dozens of families who lost their loved ones in the recent war published an open letter in which they urged Winter to withdraw his candidacy.
The families expressed fear that Winter running alone in the elections would waste votes and hurt the pro-Netanyahu bloc's chances of forming the next government.