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| Israeli politicians woo crucial Russian vote
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Avigdor Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party
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In a country which prides itself on being a melting pot for millions of Jews from across the world, Israel’s large community of Russian immigrants today stands out as a pivotal force in March 28 elections.
Some 750,000 voters from among the 1.1 million Jewish immigrants who arrived from former Soviet states over the past 15 years hold the key to one fifth of the seats in the Israeli 120-member parliament, or Knesset.
Former Soviet dissident and prominent leader of Israel’s Russian community Nathan Sharansky says that, more than in previous election campaigns, the Russian electorate will have a central role in shaping the next Knesset.
"This is one more step in the historical process of building a political force from Aliya (immigration)," says Sharansky, who is running for the right-wing Likud party.
"The next Knesset will have almost 15 members from the Russian community."
As a result, politicians have been relentlessly wooing the "Russian vote" in recent months, promising to tackle social inequalities and placing Russian candidates high on their party slates. Nearly all parties added Russian subtitles to their TV campaign spots.
Labour leader Amir Peretz, who as a child immigrated to Israel from
Morocco, announced he was taking Russian lessons.
The coastal town of Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv, is home to one of the
country’s largest Russian communities, and has become a major battleground in this election campaign, in which nearly 20 percent of the voters are said to be undecided.
All across town, faces of the parties’ candidates are flagged alongside slogans in Russian. Parties send candidates almost every day to hold special gatherings for Ashdod’s Russian-speaking voters.
Standing behind the counter in a small delicatessen which sells imported, non-Kosher Russian products, Marina Shimona says almost everyone she knows wanted to vote for the Kadima party before its founder Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke on January 4.
Russians like Sharon
"Russians really like Sharon, but we all know he won’t return to politics" she says, visibly disappointed. "No one other than Sharon can now promise security and a strong economy."
Zeev Elkin, a former Russian immigrant who today numbered 17 on the Kadima candidate list, admits his party, which is poised to emerge as the big winner in the elections with nearly 40 seats, is having trouble in attracting Russian voters.
"When Kadima was founded last November, it had between 40 to 50 percent support on the Russian streets," he says.
But since the disappearance of Sharon, who dominated Israeli politics
during the years of the deadly conflict with the Palestinians and the dramatic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, many Russians have lost interest in Kadima.
Kadima’s new leader, Ehud Olmert, is little known to Russians, Shimona says, and the centrist party’s drawing power has therefore weakened in the eyes of many voters.
Lieberman doing wll in the polls
Polls suggest many Russian voters have turned their sights towards the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, who himself arrived from Moldova 28 years ago. The party is now expected to win some 10 seats.
The party’s Ashdod headquarters bustles as dozens of activists walk in and out. The walls of the small office are covered with pictures of Lieberman, gazing down with a stern look and a neatly trimmed beard.
Pensioners sit for long hours over the phones, urging potential voters to come out to cast their ballot. Younger volunteers distribute thousands of leaflets in the neighbourhoods where the Russian population can reach 90
percent.
For Larissa Lenina, who heads the office, Lieberman is not just a leader of a party for his voters. He also represents a model for many young Russian immigrants who feel discriminated and left behind by the veteran Israeli society.
"Many of those who arrived in Israel since the 1990s were unable to
integrate in society despite often being highly educated and talented," Lenina says. "Many fail to move up the social ladder because they are still considered new immigrants."
But Lieberman, who first entered politics as the director of the prime minister’s office under Benjamin Netanyahu and later became transport minister, "gave Russians the feeling they can work in any job in the country," she says.
Lenina admits that Sharon’s disappearance from the political map boosted Lieberman’s popularity among Russians, who are looking for a strong leader.
"Russian immigrants see in Lieberman a young Sharon," Lenina says.
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