It's probably a safe bet that Natan Sharansky, former Soviet dissident and leader of the Russian immigrants in Israel, voted for Netanyahu, the man he credits with helping free him from the Soviet gulag. But he may have cost his buddy the race. The other Soviet Jews, 700,000 of whom have arrived in Israel in the past decade and who now represent 14% of the nation's electorate, swung victory to Barak. Veteran Israelis tend to stick rigidly in either the Labor or Likud camp, but "the Russians," as they are called, can go either way. This time just over half voted...
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