Likud to launch Anglo division

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu will formally launch new division on Thursday at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
likud 298.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
likud 298.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu will formally launch the Likud's new "Anglo" division in a kickoff event on Thursday at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters. The new division is intended to appeal to immigrants from English-speaking countries who want to help the Likud return to power and to advance causes that specifically appeal to so-called "Anglo" voters. The division's founder, Ari Harow, said those issues include clean government, electoral reform, education, hasbara and aliya. Harow, a Netanyahu adviser from Los Angeles, took steps to form an Anglo division before last year's election. He decided it was important to form a permanent division, not connected to any campaign or to any election. "Not only was there a need to do something continuous, but forming an Anglo group is also valuable because the party could potentially return to power soon and we can have a real say in influencing the policies of the next government," Harow said. Netanyahu, who encouraged the division's formation, will be joined at the event by MKs Limor Livnat, Yuval Steinitz and Gilad Erdan. Harow said Netanyahu displayed particular interest in the group because of his command of the English language and his own background in the United States. Following Pessah, the division will hold gatherings and parlor meetings with MKs in communities with strong populations of Anglos across the country. Members of the division will also work on legislation that Likud MKs will advance on their behalf. Moledet is the only party with an active Anglo division that functions beyond pre-election time. The National Union-National Religious Party that Moledet is a part of and several other parties formed Anglo campaigns ahead of the last election. The only party other than Moledet that has specifically targeted Anglos as one of its primary constituencies was Natan Sharansky's Israel Ba'aliya party, ahead of the 2003 election. The party merged with Likud shortly after that experiment failed.