Published: 30 July 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
IT’S NOT FOR NOTHING that immigrants from the former Soviet Union are among the most sought-after voters in Israel’s current election campaign. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the sector makes up 12 percent — or some 770,000 — of 6.3 million eligible voters in Israel. This translates into 15 or 16 Knesset seats.
Exclusive data obtained by Zman Yisrael, the Hebrew sister site to The Times of Israel, reveals the voting trends among the immigrant public from the April 9 election.
A series of studies by Professor Zeev Hanin found that in the last election, 40.2% of the votes cast by immigrants from the former Soviet Union — nearly six seats — went to Avigdor Liberman’s party, Yisrael Beytenu.
In other words, the data suggests that all five of the mandates Liberman eventually won came from the immigrant population, and he did not receive any electoral support from native-born Israelis.
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