Merav Ben-David won the Democratic nomination in Wyoming after sweeping 44% of the vote • In the past she said of Israel: "I think the government is acting cruelly"

• Merav Ben David

  Photo: 

  Nadav Soroker (from Merav Ben David's Facebook)

Merav Ben-David, an environmental scientist born and raised in Israel, is the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Wyoming. Ben-David, who won the support of leading figures in the Democratic Party in Wyoming, on Tuesday garnered 44 percent of the vote in the primary election held between three candidates.

Now the 61-year-old professor of Wyoming University, who speaks English with a prominent Israeli accent, is facing a tough political battle in the most Republican state in the United States. She will run in the November general election against Republican Cynthia Loomis, who was Wyoming's representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In an interview with JTA earlier this month, Ben-David said she believes the corona plague has created an openness to its message calling for an economy that relies less on fuel and more on renewable energy. About half of Wyoming's revenue comes from oil and gas and related industries. "I think there is a chance and this year, if you think about it, is very unconventional," she said. "Following the outbreak of the corona virus there is a recognition that we need to pay more attention to science."

Democrats advising Ben-David, including Gary Trauner, a Jewish businessman who ran for the Senate in Wyoming in 2018 and lost twice in the state House of Representatives race, advised her to make many appearances around Wyoming and go to rodeo events, a popular pastime in the western U.S. but the plague prevented it. "Everything was canceled," said Ben-David. "I used to be in rodeo competitions, but not as part of a campaign."

Instead, Ben-David launched a digital campaign that included videos showing her flying in a helicopter and walking in the woods explaining her environmental doctrine, in addition to animal and nature clips in Wyoming. Her campaign logo was designed in the shape of a bison.

Ben-David comes from a family with deep roots in Israel. Her family immigrated from Belarus around 1860, and her brother's grandchildren are the seventh generation in the country. She grew up on a family farm outside Rishon Lezion, served in the army and studied at Tel Aviv University. After working and studying in Kenya and Alaska, she moved to Wyoming 20 years ago and became a United States citizen in 2009.

Wyoming, a state with the smallest population in the United States, is home to about 1,150 Jews. In the city of Larami, where Ben-David lives, there is a small Jewish community composed mainly of university people, like her. "We have a vibrant community in Balarami, and we celebrate all the holidays," Ben-David told JTA, "I'm usually in charge of the kneadlech."

She said that during the campaign she was asked many times about Israel - and it seems that her answers, which criticize the Israeli leadership, satisfy her electorate. "People ask a lot of what I said about Israel and are particularly interested in my response to the Palestinians," she says. "So far, most of the people's reactions have been positive, not negative. In other words, I do not support what the Israeli government is doing. I think she's being cruel. I expressed my opinion, and people appreciate it. "