Figthing for the “Russian” vote

Sooner than in any other election cycle I remember, the Russian-speaking community came to the center of attention in the Israeli election campaign.  According to this article, 40% of Russian speakers in Israel are still indecisive, and indeed recent Livni’s comment is viewed as an important step for Kadima towards the “Russian street”.  Traditionally, the Russian-speaking community is leaning to the right with “Yisrael Beiteinu” as the most popular party.  Currently “Likud” and “Ysrael Beteinu” are sharing 50% of the “Russian” vote.  At the same time, the Russian-speaking community has traditionally had issues with the orthodox religious establishment (and vice versa), yet right wing in Israel is usually associated with religious conservatism.  So the parties are now in this complex situation where they have to navigate between picturing them as right enough to attract the “Russian” vote, but not too religious in order not to scare them.

Being part of a number of election cycles, I wonder what will be the role of Russian-speakers in the parties running for Knesset.  In the past, the major parties would have a “Russian placeholder” – almost artificially created politician, who speaks Russian and who would campaign on the “Russian street”.  The only different party in this grotescian show was “Yisrael Beitenu”, whose head, Avigdor Liberman, is in fact an Immigrant, whose family came to Israel in the 1970’s.  I wonder if this election will bring anything new in the role “Russians” will actually play in the election and beyond.  Despite its electoral weight, this community is usually neglected within the political system and is looked at only during the election.  I wonder if there will be an upcoming promising politician, who is an immigrant (from Russia, Ethiopia, or elsewhere), revealed in any of the parties.

P.S. If you do read the HE version of the article I site in this post, it starts with a really weird scetch of a supposedly very popoular on the “Russian” street numerologist and her supposedly influential role on the political opinion of this sector.  Lili Galili, is a rather veteran reporter covering the Russian-speaking community for Haaretz.  I am surprised to see her starting her item with such a grotesc and rediculous example, which paints the “Russians” as weird outsiders in the Israeli community.  It is really sad that after almost two decades since the beginning of the large immigration wave, even in supposedly the most progressive large newspaper in Israel, there is need for such useless, and again rediculous, framing in order to talk about this sector.