Anglo candidate drops out of Habayit Hayehudi race

Ari Abramowitz bows out; fellow American Gimpel, still running, endorses Orlev for leader.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
ARI ABRAMOWITZ (left) and Jeremy Gimpel 521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem /The Jerusalem Post)
ARI ABRAMOWITZ (left) and Jeremy Gimpel 521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem /The Jerusalem Post)
American immigrants Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel have hosted televised variety shows in Israel and the US and worked together to present positive messages about Israel around the world.
But when it comes to politics, Gimpel is going it alone.
Abramowitz dropped out of Habayit Hayehudi’s November 13 Knesset race Thursday in order to give his friend Gimpel a better chance of getting elected.
“As we approach the primaries, it is becoming clear that all who believe in the importance of this mission must throw our support fully and exclusively behind one candidate,” Abramowitz said. “There is no doubt in my mind that Jeremy should be that candidate.
We both see this as an unparalleled opportunity to expand our sphere of influence with Jeremy pushing policy through on a legislative level while I build international grassroots support for Israel.”
Gimpel thanked Abramowitz for his move, saying that their friendship and partnership transcends titles and positions.
“Since the beginning everything that Ari and I have done, we have done together, and nothing is going to change that,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, when we are in the Knesset the only difference between Ari and myself is that my name will be on the door.”
Gimpel and Abramowitz decided to endorse MK Zevulun Orlev in the November 6 Habayit Hayehudi leadership race.
They called upon their supporters to back leadership candidate Naftali Bennett in his race for the Knesset slate the following week.
“We feel strongly that Orlev, who is recognized as one of the most accomplished parliamentarians in the Knesset, can use his vast experience in government to further not only our party but our mission of serving as the critical voice of Western aliya in the Israeli government,” they said. “Considering the magnitude of the challenges Israel faces today, we have not only the opportunity, but the responsibility, to bring the values, ideals and inspiration of English-speaking aliya to the Knesset.”
Other Knesset candidates with connections to English- speaking countries include Yossi Fuchs, Emanuel Navon, and David Sharan, all in the Likud.