Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., September 22, 2008 Elul 22, 5768 | | Israel Time: 18:05 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Nir Barkat campaign first to pursue Anglo constituents in Jerusalem By Raphael Ahren Tags: Jerusalem, Israel, Nir Barkat The person who wants to become mayor of Jerusalem needs to please four different constituencies: the people of Jerusalem, the people of Israel, the Jews of the world and the rest of the world, Nir Barkat, the reported front runner in the race for city hall, said at a campaign event last week. But, practically speaking, there is another significant voting bloc worth paying attention to: the tens of thousands of Anglos who live here. Nobody can exactly tell how many of Jerusalem's 730,000 residents are English speakers and eligible to vote, but it can be safely assumed that Anglos constitute a considerable constituency. The incoming Anglo coordinator for the Barkat campaign, Eli Gurock, estimates their number to lie somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000. "Perhaps the figure of 30,000 Anglos out of 750,000 doesn't sound like much," the 29-year-old said. But during the last mayoral elections in 2003, less than 200,000 Jerusalemites actually voted, he points pit. "Suddenly, 30,000 become really relevant. It's almost a swing vote, especially when you think that Nir lost by just 12,000 votes in the last election." So far, Barkat, an independent businessman and currently the city council's opposition leader, is the only of the three major candidates for mayor who has hired a person whose sole responsibility is Jerusalem's Anglo community. A spokesman for billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak's Social Justice Party, Shai Ohana, told Haaretz that the campaign does not plan to hire somebody with the particular task of addressing voters in English. Instead, he said, they are working with a company to translate all campaign material into English. He also pointed to the party's English section on its Web site. However, as of now it only contains one brief sentence, in which the Russian-born Gaydamak invites voters to "join the party and make a difference." Advertisement MK Meir Porush, who is the presumptive candidate of the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parties, is still in the process of putting his campaign staff together, according to his spokesman, Moshe Friedman. Porush's campaign will work with "all ethnic groups and all languages," Friedman told Haaretz. He noted that Porush does not yet have a Web site, but will create one soon. Aryeh Deri, the former chairman of the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party, currently mulls a run for city hall as well, but has not yet confirmed his candidacy. Barkat seems to be a few steps ahead of the competition. His Web site has a functional English section and he even has his own page on Facebook, which lists already more than 200 supporters, with the numbers going up every day. Having an Anglo coordinator was part of the overall strategy from the beginning of the current campaign, and with the hiring of the likable Gurock, who grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, he found a dedicated and sophisticated spokesman. "We don't know where they are" Besides responding to phone calls and e-mails from Anglos who either have questions or want to get involved in the campaign, Gurock has two main functions. He is constantly trying to extend Barkat's network of volunteers and supporters, and to discover where in Jerusalem the Anglo community is located, and to then reach out them. "It's difficult, because we don't know where these people are," he told Haaretz. Our main goal is mapping out - in any which way we can: religiously, socially, geographically, economically, politically - who is in the Anglo community, and how can we reach them." For Gurock's purposes, it is not even clear who counts as an Anglo. "It's hard to define the term," he said. "There are people who have been here for 50 years and still don't speak Hebrew. Some are here for only five years but are completely bilingual." As a working definition, he considers an Anglo "anybody who would like to be approached in English." Of course Gurock knows that there are certain neighborhoods where many English speakers live, and focuses his efforts on these areas. One of the key ways to reach his constituency is holding English-language town hall meetings. The next one will take place this Tuesday on Aza Street in Rehavia. "We bring Nir Barkat in and we have him speak to people," Gurock said, noting that the candidate speaks English "perfectly." According to Gurock, who in his day job is the marketing director for a high-tech company in Beit Shemesh, Barkat's message hits home with many Anglo voters. He even drew a comparison to U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama. "When people hear Nir's message their eyes start glowing and they want to help," he said. "It's a little bit like the 'Obamania' which has swept across America. [The Obama] campaign has reinvigorated people into the voting process, and we're seeing a little ripple effect like that here." Whether Barkat, who according to recent polls has a comfortable lead, will really be able to get Jerusalem's Anglos to vote for him and become mayor with their help remains to be seen come election day on November 11 - exactly one week after the new U.S. president is chosen. Bookmark to del.icio.us   'Pilobolus in Israel' Now Israel's most beautiful sites can be visited in New York City. West Bank violence Palestinian woman dies after being shoved to the ground by IDF troops.   1.   Nir Barkat potential saviour... 10:33  |  Esther 05/09/08   2.   Oh Jerusalem... 18:04  |  Esther 05/09/08   3.   A knowlegable candidate 10:10  |  Sharon Saunders 10/09/08   4.   Most of Jerusalem`s Anglos are Haredi 18:02  |  ARTH 22/09/08

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