Netanyahu Launches Likud Campaign and Warns Against Voting for Ofer Winter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally launched Likud's election campaign at Expo Tel Aviv on Thursday, 40 days before Israelis vote, and presented the party's slate. He framed the election as a choice between "fight or surrender" and attacked Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party as "a bluff." Netanyahu also warned supporters not to vote for Ofer Winter's Am Yisrael party, saying votes for a party below the threshold could shift to Avigdor Liberman. He told the audience his government had changed the Middle East and cited the deaths of Hassan Nasrallah, Ali Khamenei and Mohammed Deif; protesters demonstrated outside as almost all Likud lawmakers attended.