Bayit Yehudi aims to attract Anglos with video

Party chairman Naftali Bennett makes play at Olim, focusing on chose aliyah out of Zionism and love for Israel.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Bayit Hayehudi's Naftali Bennett 390 (photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
Bayit Hayehudi's Naftali Bennett 390
(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
The Bayit Yehudi became the first party running in the January 22 election to produce an English campaign video on Monday when it uploaded a new clip featuring its chairman Naftali Bennett and other candidates to YouTube.
In the video, Bennett says his parents are from California and chose aliya out of Zionism and love for Israel.
“The Bayit Yehudi is your home because it represents the same values and ideals that led you to make aliya,” Bennett said in the video. “It’s time to take the message of your aliya to the entire country.”
The video also includes quotes from candidates Ayelet Shaked, Moti Yogev, Yoni Shetbon and Jeremy Gimpel. The party promised that more videos would follow ahead of the election.
“Growing up in America, a Jewish education was a luxury for a select few,” Gimpel said in the video. “If you believe that every Israeli child deserves a quality Jewish education, the Bayit Yehudi is your home.”
Bennett boasted about Gimpel, who is 14th on the list, saying he was proud to have an Anglo representative in what he said was a realistic spot.
“We’re gearing our party to be the primary address of the English-speaking community in the country,” Bennett said. “Coming from that background I fully understand the contribution they add to our society.”
Bayit Yehudi’s English campaign will be chaired by Gimpel and managed by Jeremy Saltan, who was an aide to National Union leader Ya’acov Katz, but Bennett will also play a primary role.
Saltan promised to court the English-speaking public like they have never been courted before.
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Gimpel said the party was developing an aliya department that would cater to the English-speaking community and offer direct user-friendly access to the party. He also said the party would offer a new level of representation and transparency in Israeli politics.
“We are revolutionizing the way our party communicates with the Englishspeaking community,” Gimpel said.
“The Jewish Zionist values of the Bayit Yehudi would attract any Western oleh [immigrant], but now for the first time we’re reaching out to them, in their language, in a medium accessible to everyone. This is just the beginning.”