JERUSALEM (May 17) - Insisting that neutrality is "a foundation of our party," Yisrael Ba'aliya leader Natan Sharansky vowed yesterday the party would remain neutral in the prime ministerial race. This would not change despite Center Party leader Yitzhak Mordechai's endorsement of One Israel's Ehud Barak and renewed insults from Shas, which supports Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"Our party is strong enough to be a home for those who tomorrow will vote Bibi or Ehud. It's very important to me that everyone still feel that the party is the home of everyone, and we won't turn that common home into a room in the villa of one of the candidates," Sharansky said.

Sharansky, who is also minister of industry and trade, said his party is "the real center" and that it "now has the important national task of ensuring there will be a national unity government."

He slammed the racial slurs directed at immigrants from Russia expressed in a weekly Torah portion sermon by Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who continued the attacks that had been dropped from Shas's TV propaganda with a public apology from Interior Minister Eli Suissa.

In his address at a Jerusalem synagogue Saturday night, Yosef said, referring to Yisrael Ba'aliya's campaign for control of the Interior Ministry: "They scream that the Interior Ministry will not stay in Shas's hands because they want our country not to be Jewish. They want to bring here Gentiles from Russia and hell. There is unemployment here and they bring us more Gentiles and give them homes - not just ordinary homes: palaces."

"These are very provocative remarks," Sharansky said, "which definitely insult the honor of immigrants. We proved that you can fight for political goals without stigmatizing anyone or complete sections of the public. We won't be part of this today either, but instead will answer at the polls on Election Day."

Yisrael Ba'aliya No. 3 MK Roman Bronfman said that "Shas's real face was revealed in the remarks by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef."

Bronfman said Yosef's remarks "prove that Suissa's apology was simply a political act aimed at calming the atmosphere. They are anti-Zionists who do not understand the importance of immigration, constantly call for ethnic and religious confrontations" and spew hatred towards other ethnic groups.

Rather than focus on Yosef's remarks, party leaders were pointing to weekend polls showing Yisrael Ba'aliya getting as many as nine seats in today's election.

The only remaining concern was reflected in the latest television spots used by the party, in which an elderly voter avoids being tricked into choosing the wrong party by an unidentified activist from another party. Party adviser Ron Dermer said yesterday morning that Yisrael Ba'aliya was going to be on the lookout to insure that voters "are not duped by people," either from Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party or others.

Liat Collins contributed to this report.