8/14/2019 A Candidate to Bank On
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The only candidate Anglos can 'Bank' on?The only candidate
Anglos can 'Bank' on?
Jan. 1, 2009
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST
Five US citizens ran for places on the Likud
Knesset list, an Australian and a Canadian ran
in Kadima, and another Canadian sought a
seat in Israel Beiteinu, but none of them won a
realistic slot.
The Likud merged Sunday with MK Effi
Eitam's Ahi Party and placed former Beit
Shemesh mayoral candidate Shalom Lerner of
Ahi, who has lived in New York, Baltimore and
London, 39th on the joint list. But no poll has
shown
the Likud
winning
that many
seats.
TheGreens, the Green Movement, a new electoral
reform party called Yisraelim and a breakoff
from the Green Leaf party are fielding Anglo
candidates and are trying to pass the 2 per-
cent electoral threshold for the first time.
That leaves Detroit-born, Chicago-raised Uri
Bank of the National Union as the only Anglo
candidate running with a party currently repre-
sented in the Knesset who has any chance of
getting elected.
Bank was placed fifth on the National Union
list that was submitted to the Central Elections
Committee on Sunday as the top representa-
tive of his Moledet party following the retire-
ment of its chairman, Benny Elon. The slot
was a significant upgrade for Bank, who was
10th on the National Union
list in 2003 when it won
seven seats and 16th
in 2006 when it
won nine.
According to a
deal reached
by the four
parties that
make up the
National Union
(Hatikva, Tkuma, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu and
Moledet), if the list wins four seats and enters
the gov-
ernment
the min-
ister
would
quit the
Knessetto make room for Bank. They also decided tha
Bank would become the faction's manager in
the Knesset if they win fewer than five seats
but remain in the opposition.
A Jerusalem Post poll found that the public
was not aware of the difference between the
National Union and the more centrist, nationa
religious Habayit Hayehudi party, but that to-
gether they would split seven or eight seats.
An internal poll sponsored by Tkuma lastweek found that the
National Union would win
five seats and Habayit Hayehudi three.
The 40-year-old Bank lives in Neveh Daniel in
Gush Etzion with his wife and three children.
He made aliya from Chicago when he was 12
and stayed in the country on his own when hi
Knesset Candidate Uri Ba
... the only Anglo candidate running with a
party currently represented in the Knesset who
has any chance of getting elected.
8/14/2019 A Candidate to Bank On
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parents left the country five years later.
In past elections, Bank ran as an Anglo candi-
date and campaigned specifically in large
communities of native English speakers. This
time, he still intends to organize events in the
Anglo sector and to build an English-lan-
guage campaign Web site, but he will also run
on his right-
wing, religious-Zionist
ideology.
"As an Anglo, I
understand the
need for checks
and balances
and making Is-
rael more demo-
cratic more than
my Israeli coun-
terparts," Bank
said.
"But my main
motivation in
running is not
only being the
Anglo Congressman in the Knesset, it's also
representing the people of Israel, Land of Is-
rael and Torah of Israel."
Bank will have a disadvantage in seeking
Anglo votes because the Likud began cam-
paigning in the sector two years ago,
has regular events, and an
English Web site updated
daily. But
Bank said the rejection of Anglo candidates i
the Likud primary should sway Likud voters
to his party.
"If [Likud Chairman Binyamin] Netanyahu wa
serious about representing the Anglo commu
nity, he could have made sure that an Anglo
would get on his list," Bank said. "It says
something
about the Na-tional Union
that they put an
Anglo candi-
date who ran
with them twice
before in a re-
ally realistic
slot this time."
Likud Anglos
director Shalom
Helman said
Netanyahu
made every ef-
fort to help
Leiter, who fol-
lowing the
merger and
court cases ended up 42nd on the party's list
"[Leiter] didn't do as well, but [it was] in theLikud, which is
a much bigger pond than a
marginal party," Helman said. "But if we do
really well and bring people out to vote then
Lerner and maybe even Yechiel will be MKs,
as they should be. And anyway, many of our
candidates have been responsive to our
needs, so not having an Anglo at the top of
the list doesn't mean we won't have anyone
representing us."
"As an Anglo, I understand the need
for checks and balances and making
Israel more democratic more than my
Israeli counterparts," Bank said.
"But my main motivation in running
is not only being the Anglo Con-gressman in the Knesset, it's
also
representing the people of Israel,
Land of Israel and Torah of Israel."
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