Atlanta-native Jeremy Gimpel, who fell short of his goal of entering the
Knesset, pledged on Saturday night to continue serving Israel despite a campaign
that ended with him being accused of supporting blowing up the Temple
Mount.
Support for Bayit Yehudi fell following a video broadcast last
Friday that showed Gimpel appearing to back blowing up the Dome of the Rock, but
he later said the clip was a parody on the fanatics who want to do so – taken
out of context from a Bible class on the Book of Ezra that he delivered to
Christian supporters of Israel in Florida.
Bayit Yehudi won 12 seats in
Tuesday’s election. Gimpel was 14th on the party’s list.
“Anything that
is worth achieving will always be a struggle and we hope to prevail,” Gimpel
said. “The name Israel means to struggle with man and with God and
prevail. We will continue working for Israel wherever Hashem sends
us.”
Gimpel said he was not sure about the next move in his political
career. He said he would take time off before building a battle plan. Meanwhile,
he said he was happy that Maryland-born Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) was entering the
Knesset.
In a letter sent to Gimpel’s supporters on Friday, his business
and political partner Ari Abramowitz boasted about the “rock star treatment”
Gimpel had received in communities in Judea and Samaria and wrote that Bayit
Yehudi representatives had told them that if the party’s primary were to be held
now Gimpel would be a “walk in” ranking among the highest in the
party.
“I think that many feel protective of Jeremy, recognizing the
importance of protecting him from such a shameless smear campaign,” Abramowitz
wrote. “To be fair, the language and imagery [both for the Dome of the Rock and
the church references] were both poorly spoken and regrettable, but the message
of the excitement about a Third Temple and a peaceful coexistence with the
nations of the world will continue to grow and resonate around Israel and the
world,” he said.
Abramowitz said that Bayit Yehudi becoming the fourth
largest party in the Knesset after being disregarded was a reason to celebrate,
even though hopes were higher.
As for the the hopes of Gimpel and
Abramowitz to enter the Knesset in the future, Abramowitz wrote: “We’re 33 years
old. We’re just getting started!”