A senior coalition official sharply criticized Amcha Yisrael party chairman Ofer Winter on Tuesday evening following the release of exit polls in the 26th Knesset elections, all of which showed his party failing to cross the electoral threshold.
According to the official, Winter's decision to run despite polls indicating that his party would struggle to enter the Knesset undermined the right-wing bloc's chances of securing a parliamentary majority.
"Given the significant differences between the exit polls, we will wait for the official results, but according to all the exit polls, Winter cost the right-wing bloc many seats," the official said.
He added, "If Winter had not insisted on running, the right would have won decisively."
The official also rejected Winter's complaints about the campaign conducted against his party, arguing that public criticism of his candidacy had actually helped reduce the number of potentially wasted votes.
"Winter's claim about the campaign against him is ridiculous. From the very beginning, he had no chance of crossing the electoral threshold, and the campaign only reduced the number of votes that were wasted," he said.
The official concluded with a pointed remark: "Ofer made a navigation error."
All published exit polls showed Amcha Yisrael failing to cross the electoral threshold. However, the full official election results have yet to be released.