Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin was a shoo-in for a fourth term in office, there was excitement in the air as Israeli-Russians arrived to vote at the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
The line of Russian passport holders who had come to exercise their democratic right was long, reaching all the way to the elevators of the embassy floor. Of 109 million eligible voters worldwide, some 120,000 are believed to be living in Israel. The embassy said approximately 12,000 of them showed up at the 14 polling stations in Israel on Sunday and in the early voting last week.
The overwhelming sentiment at the Tel Aviv polling station was one of admiration for the incumbent leader, mainly among older voters, for "making Russia great again."
One Russian citizen, who identified himself as Talmon, said he voted for Putin because "he is strong, and a country needs to be strong. There is no other choice in Russia. "
Talmon said Putin has been particularly adept at countering the unfair attacks by the West. "All those tall tales about the Russians meddling in the U.S. elections, on the doping of Russian athletes and the poisoning [of the former Russian intelligence officer] in the U.K. – it is one big conspiracy; I have no doubt about that."
Nadia lived in Lithuania when it was still part of the Soviet Union. She is certain the Putin is the right choice for Israelis. "He will never turn against Israel," Nadia said. She and Talmon say they usually vote for the Left in Israeli politics but see no contradiction in voting for Putin in the Russian elections.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide re-election victory, extending his rule over the world's largest country for another six years.
According to the official preliminary results after 99.83% of ballots had been counted, Putin got 76.6% of votes. Russian Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said that the turnout was 67.47% – translating into 73,360,000 people.
