(May 18) - Around the Neveh Yaacov commercial center yesterday morning, the much ballyhooed Russian vote looked like it was headed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman. But even more noticeable was the fact that many new immigrants appeared eager to shed that label by turning their back on the Russian parties and instead voting for a larger one.

There was a holiday atmosphere along Sderot Neveh Yaacov, as families, sometimes three generations, made their way to the polls at the state elementary school, many bringing along the family dog.

Roving groups of youngsters thrust dummy ballots in their hands to remind them who to vote for as they walked by, while a Sephardi man shouted in Russian to a group of surprised older immigrants chatting under a tree: For the sake of Eretz Yisrael, vote for Binyamin Netanyahu.

His call appeared to be falling on attentive ears, judging by the immigrants interviewed in the economically depressed, lower middle class north Jerusalem neighborhood, where many residents are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Most put security first, then the economy, and their own needs as immigrants low down on the totem pole.

The country is more important, the economic and security situation. That's why I voted for Netanyahu, said 50-year-old Nellie Kheimetz, who came here five years ago from Moscow and was with her father, Aaron, while she walked the family dog, Tzenty.

Gita Isaacovic, 66, emerging from the Co-Op supermarket with her husband, Anatoly, straight into a huge poster of Netanyahu hung opposite the exit, agreed. We voted for Netanyahu and Lieberman. I voted for Netanyahu, because we like him better. He won't give back land to the Arabs, and thats very important. He also reduced inflation and hes for privatization. We voted for Lieberman, because Sharansky is ready to sit with Barak, and thats dangerous. Lieberman will go with Netanyahu.

Lilia Sirolnikov, 28, who arrived from Moldova in 1992, said she was more concerned about security, the Golan than other issues. That's much more important than issues that are limited to the immigrants, because if there is no security, there won't be any immigrants, she said as she waited to go into the school, where the schoolyard was dotted with knots of families undergoing a last-minute review of voting strategy.

Sirolnikov was eager to shed the immigrant label when it comes to politics. I think that immigrant parties are good, but not at this stage, she said. The time hasn't come yet for us to be split so much into immigrant parties, Green parties, etc. The political situation and our educational and social needs are very important, but less than the security situation. That's why I voted for National Union.

Alec Epstein, a 24-year-old sociologist who immigrated from Moscow nine years ago, agreed. There are many of us who will not vote for Russian parties, but rather for larger, Israeli parties, he stated, backing 18-year-old Reuven Yamrom's declaration as he left the polling station following his first vote that after 10 years, the time has come for the Russian immigrants to opt for the larger parties.

Outside the school, Lieberman supporters were seen in full force, and a unique bit of cooperation was noticed when a young Lieberman supporter in a T-shirt and a Shas supporter wearing a turban swapped stickers.

Perhaps it was a display of unity against a common foe, Natan Sharansky, who surprisingly had little support among the interviewees, and even less for his party's campaign to gain control of the Interior Ministry.

I really don't like it; it's an embarrassment to our people, said Yamrom. As a dissident who sat in prison after being persecuted, dividing Israelis and Russians via this pitch is an embarrassment. We fought to be part of Israeli society, and now its all going down the drain.

Epstein was even harsher, calling the issue artificial. If Sharansky wanted to change something regarding the Law of Return, he could have asked the Knesset Law Committee or some other parliamentary committee to help, and not seek a government ministry that operates according to the law and which can act no other way if the law bans non-Jewish immigration, he said. I think it was unnecessary and it will hurt him dearly at the polls, said Sirolnikov. People I know dont believe that this was the most important issue.

As for the months of wooing of the Russian vote, the mood was decidedly skeptical. Liana Feldman, pausing to check on her infant son Daniel in his carriage and her daughter Lina, raised her eyebrows when someone mentioned the issue.

It's nice they like us so much, but why does it only happen two months before elections? Why just every four years do they wake up to the fact that there are immigrants with problems. Im very certain that two days from now, no one will remember or help us.

Kheimetz agreed with that assessment of Israeli realpolitiks, adding that most of her friends say no matter who wins, everything will be the same.

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