(May 18) - A smiling Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson looks down from nearly every billboard at Kfar Habad, where election fever yesterday seemed to be isolated to a small but rowdy convoy of vehicles plastered with posters favoring Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and blaring deafening music that threatened to reverberate till the fateful dawn.

But then they passed, on their way to Rishon Lezion and beyond, and the quiet returned to this Lubavitcher hamlet of 5,000 souls.

We don't have to do any election propaganda around here because everyone here is voting Netanyahu, said Levy Liss, a 27-year-old local driver who organized the convoy. But we see the hate that Barak and his people have for us. If we wake up to a new reality and Barak wins then oy vaavoy to us.

Habad was taking no chances. Evoking the ruling of the late rebbe Schneerson, letters were posted up at the central synagogue calling on every resident to vote. It said in black and white that abstaining or casting a blank ballot is contrary to the rebbes rulings.

You have to vote for somebody, and residents were told to choose the prime-ministerial candidate who best reflected the values they cherish. Netanyahus name was not written, but it was on everyone's lips.

I do what my rebbe tells me to do, said Yaacov, a 23-year-old man waiting in line to vote who declined to give his last name, and the rebbe told us we had to give Netanyahu another chance.

Nonetheless, this was still a far cry from Habad's participation in the last elections, when they manned street corners across the country with posters proclaiming: Netanyahu is good for the Jews. Habads activism then helped tipped the scales for Netanyahu and the movement was cast as a kingmaker of sorts.

But the price was heavy, as Habad became a political adversary to many. Doors of the secular world were shut to them, a blow to the Lubavitcher way of life of trying to spread the light and glory of Judaism among all Jews.

Habad spokesman Menachem Mendy Brodz yesterday explained that 1996 was a difficult situation... We were on the verge of the catastrophe of Oslo and the buses were blowing up. The rabbis decided that saving Israel from this fate was more important than the reputation of Habad. It was clear to us even then that it was a one-time decision. We cannot be permanently involved in Israeli elections, Brodz added. Matti Maman, a kitchen worker, agreed. Emerging from the polling booth, Maman said: Last time we made a mistake. We alienated people. We aren't against anyone.

We can even live with [Shinui leader] Tommy Lapid, he said, smiling. Ironically, as much as this election has focused on the religious-secular rift, what concerned most people here was the fear that the Left is going to give up land for peace, which clashed with their belief in the sacredness of all of the Land of Israel.

The danger is more now than ever that the land will be returned. Okay, Netanyahu made mistakes, but there really is no choice and we have to vote for him again, said Moshe Cohen, 26, as he waited to cast his ballot. At Kfar Habad there was no holiday atmosphere yesterday. That was mainly because the yeshivot were open and many self-employed people opted to go to work. Some rode bikes from the synagogue to the polling booth. Women hung laundry in the yards. Young yeshiva students on a break from studies drank soft drinks at the grocery.

The parties expected to do strongly here are United Torah Judaism, Shas, the National Union and Yisrael Beiteinu. No one said they were voting for Barak, and everyone dismissed the surveys predicting his victory.

I want to hope that it will be a victory for Netanyahu. My heart says it will be. But what will be only God knows, said Israel Lipsker, a wholesaler of childrens clothes. Habad may not be physically involved in the elections this time, but spiritually we are very much there.

Surveys aside, the dislike for the media was everywhere. This reporter and a photographer were thrown out of the grounds of two polling booths by angry residents who said they suspected the media of bias against them. I'm afraid to talk to you and have my photo taken, because tomorrow it may appear in your paper with a caption saying I voted five times, said Avraham Bernes, 29, as he waited to cast his ballot.

Brodz said that as much as the religious population is growing, they see Israel as becoming less and less religious in its culture and ruling establishment. The fear in his circles is that the religious status quo will be toppled should the Left take over.

There is a great attack against the religious today. We dont feel persecuted but we feel the hostile atmosphere, Brodz said.

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