Bayit Yehudi party leaders Ministers Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel have reached agreement and they have tapped Dov Kalmonovitz to head the Jerusalem list in the upcoming mayoral race.

Kalmonovitz heads the “Remember” organization. The party is expected to approve the decision, which includes placing a woman and a member of the young guard on the list.

Kalmonovitz, 57, is a graduate of Netiv Meir High School in Bayit Vegan. From there he entered the Har Tzion Hesder Yeshiva and he served as a tank commander in the Yom Kippur War. He holds a bachelors degree in accounting and economics from Bar Ilan University. He is a partner in a Jerusalem accounting firm. He was a longtime resident of Beit El but has since returned to his native Yerushalayim.

In the 1988 attack he suffered burns over 75% of his body. His life was saved when a neighbor passed and saw the flames, getting him out and rolling him in the dirt to extinguish the flames. He was gravely injured in that attack during the so-called First Intifada, and B’chasdei Hashem has rehabilitated himself, albeit following much effort and many surgeries. He has since been an activist on behalf of terror victims.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)