Amsalem weighs Habayit Hayehudi run, keeps options open

“I will be on a party list,” Amsalem says, “I have received enticing offers from many parties.”

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Amsalem 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Amsalem 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Former Shas MK Haim Amsalem met recently with the head of Habayit Hayehudi’s election committee, Rabbi Danny Tropper, about the possibility of running with the party, a source close to Amsalem said Monday.
Amsalem, who broke off from Shas two years ago, formed a party called Am Shalem that focuses on uniting all Jews and restoring moderate Judaism to Israel.
“I will be on a party list,” Amsalem said. “I have received enticing offers from many parties.”
Am Shalem officials said Habayit Hayehudi could be a good fit to run together but that they have also received overtures from Likud and other parties.
“If we run together with another group, it will have to be consistent with our ideology and enable us to keep our identity after the election,” said the party’s American- born Knesset candidate, Rabbi Dov Lipman. “We are entertaining various possibilities while working to build ourselves up on our own.”
Lipman stressed that Am Shalem was still open to running on its own and that as elections get closer, Amsalem will weigh all his options and make the decision “that gives us the best chance to make the changes we need to make to improve our country.”
Officials in Habayit Hayehudi said it was too soon to consider who would be the party’s Knesset candidates.
The National Religious Party that is the forerunner of Habayit Hayehudi will hold a membership drive beginning Sunday.