LOD (May 17) - It was a busy day at Ben-Gurion Airport yesterday, as Israelis abroad streamed home to vote, most of them unaware of the political developments unfolding all day.

The first of 3,200 arrived in the late afternoon, having taken advantage of a special $180 round-trip fare offered by a right-wing group in the US, a $3 million effort to help sway the vote in favor of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Others paid full fare for the privilege of voting.

"I paid $1,100, and I don't regret it," said Uzi Carroll, a professor of elementary education at College of New Jersey.

"It is a very important election," he said, noting his preference for One Israel leader Ehud Barak. "It's weird, I don't have this reaction to any other politician, not here and not in the US. I don't really know anything about Ehud Barak, but this is a visceral thing that I don't really understand."

More than one returning passenger commented how they could have come back any time, but made a point of arriving in time to vote.

"I was going to stay in New York for another three weeks, but I came back to vote for either Bibi or [National Union leader Ze'ev (Benny)] Begin," said David Rosenbaum, 34, from Beit Shemesh.

Informed that Begin is no longer an option, Rosenbaum shrugged. "If there is no second round, then of course I have to vote Bibi. The vote for Begin was going to be a protest vote against Bibi."

As for Center Party leader Mordechai dropping out of the race, Rosenbaum said he was not surprised. "I was reading in The New York Times the last few weeks that he was sinking, so I expected it. The Center Party was a joke. It has no ideology, no platform. Mordechai was just 'not Bibi.' "

For some, the trip home to vote was a real effort, a pit stop on the way back out. Yossi Leshen, a professor of zoology at Tel Aviv University, was in Canada for a meeting in Vancouver and is returning next week for another meeting in Seattle.

"I had to do my best, because every vote is important," he said, noting that when news spread on the plane that Mordechai had dropped out of the race, everyone started cheering. "Everyone's gotten fed up with Bibi," he said.

Haim Shapiro adds:

El Al has delayed the departure of seven flights today to allow passengers to vote before they leave the country. The flights, all due to leave after 11 a.m., are to Milan, Chicago, Rome, London, Paris, Zurich, and Newark.

Between May 11 and today, some 3,000 Israelis are expected to have arrived to take advantage of El Al's Fly & Vote fare of $300 from Europe and $599 from the US, for a stay of between 48 hours and seven days.