Uri Bank- citizen soldier

When Knesset candidate Uri Bank (#5 Ichud Leumi list) was twelve years old, his family made aliyah. When he was eighteen, his family no longer lived in Israel, yet he stayed and volunteered for the tank corp. Now, at age forty, he serves as a reservist. What is the big deal, you may ask? Uri has passed the age of mandatory "miluim" and serves as a combat soldier one month out of every year voluntarily.

During the recent Gaza War, Uri was called up to serve his country, and during election season he went, even though he could avoid the call with honor and respect. He went because he believes in this country. Uri was willing to put his campaign on hold and leave his family to serve his nation because he believes that serving in the army to protect Am Yisrael comes before politics as usual. This is a stance that we can all learn from. Uri Bank is truly a citizen soldier and whether in the field or in the Knesset, he will do his best to serve his people with honesty, integrity and self-sacrifice.

The blog esser agaroth ran a piece on Uri that I will quote here.

When Uri Bank was called up formillu'im (IDF reserve duty) on Sunday, he went.

So did hundreds of others. So what, you may ask, is the big deal?

You see, Uri Bank is also a candidate running for K'nesseth (Israeli Parliament), holding the #5 spot on the National Union/HaTikvah Party list.

He could be out there campaigning. Time is of the essence. Elections are only a month away. But rather than try to finagle his way out of it, he met his obligation, and went to serve along side the thousands of other reservists who have recently been called up.

A source within the National Union campaign revealed that in a personal conversation, Uri said, "It's my duty."

Born in Detroit, and raised in Chicago, Uri made aliyah with his family at the age of 12. Years later, when his parents needed to return to the U. S., Uri opted to stay, and to serve in the IDF as ahayal boded (soldier alone in Israel).

Now, in millu'im, while the IDF attempts to stop the rocket fire and all other Hamas terrorist action hailing from Azza, Uri Bankonce again demonstrates that he stands by his principles.