Amcha Yisrael chairman Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter unveiled four new candidates for his Knesset slate Sunday, using the announcement to place the Chareidi draft issue front and center and directly attack Chareidim via UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf.

Winter pledged that his party would work toward “integrating Chareidim into the IDF,” making clear that, in his view, backing those who serve would take precedence over political considerations.

“The Amcha Yisrael party brings a new spirit that represents the entire spectrum of the population and will pursue a policy of a genuine right wing and military victory on every front, alongside integrating Chareidim into the IDF and giving our soldiers full backing, without compromise and without any willingness to serve as Goldknopf’s political flak jacket at the expense of those who serve,” Winter said.

Winter also announced four new additions to his party: Alam Ibrahim, Raz Malka, Lilach Chaim-Eidelberg and Eric Rubin.

“Today we are adding four new candidates to the team of the only new party on the political map,” Winter said. “The four candidates embody the spirit of the party — people who have struggled and fought for the State of Israel on the domestic and international fronts for years, and with even greater intensity since October 7.”

“B’ezras Hashem, we will be the surprise of the election,” he added.

Alam Ibrahim served for approximately 15 years as a combat soldier and commander in the Givati and Golani brigades, both during his mandatory service and as a career soldier, before joining a special unit in Israel Police. He participated in the Second Lebanon War, Operation Defensive Shield and Operation Protective Edge. He is currently a social activist and heads a regional sports center in Sajur in the Galilee.

Raz Malka is a right-wing activist from Kiryat Shmona and one of the leaders of the campaign on behalf of northern residents and their security. On October 7, he lost his cousin, Regev Amar z”l, a Paratroopers soldier who fell in battle defending Kibbutz Kissufim. In 2018, Malka ran for a seat on the Kiryat Shmona City Council.

Lilach Chaim-Eidelberg is an attorney, a member of the Nahariya City Council, a director at the Israel Association of Community Centers and chairwoman of the city’s Emunah branch. According to the party, she works to promote female leadership in decision-making positions and has expressed support in recent years for integrating Chareidim into the IDF, including participating in discussions on the issue in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Eric Rubin is an American Jew who made aliyah to Israel with his wife six days after October 7. He left his career in financial services to focus on combating antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel.

In January 2025, the Knesset recognized Rubin as one of its “Voices of Iron.” Together with Yoseph Haddad, he founded Together Vouch For Each Other U.S. He currently serves as president of Project Max and as a global ambassador for the Maccabi World Union.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)