Outside of politics, it's a different world. Russian and Russian-speaking immigrants are an integral part of Israeli society – in the military, in business, in the workforce, in culture, in the arts, and of course, in academia. They are a heterogeneous society that includes religious and assimilated members, traditional Jews and atheists. But something still binds them to the world of values from which they came. It's not only the language, it's an entire world of characteristics and worldviews. In every election campaign, parties try to reach out to this rich, multifaceted world to score votes. Not all of them can. Not all of them manage to.

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The Likud party, for example, has decided this time to launch a full-power campaign to court Russian-speaking voters. It looks as if the party has put unprecedented resources into its Russian-language campaign headquarters. That's how it is when Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, the most successful Russian-language campaigner of all time, left the national camp two months ago and became the element that will tip the scales in the next election.

Despite the enormous resources and budget, the Likud still hasn't figure out how to move votes from Lieberman to Netanyahu. It seems that decades of immovable voting patterns can no longer be changed. They can barely be nudged.

It is even harder for the left-wing parties to convince the Russian-speaking public that their path is the right one. On civil issues like separation of religion and state, they have something in common, but when it comes to diplomacy, the left-wing parties lose the Russian speakers. Russia is a world superpower. Although they got out as soon as they could in the early 1990s, when the huge nation collapsed, the sense of pride and commitment to excel at any price still courses through their veins and will not allow them to accept any scenario of concessions and ineffectiveness, which is what the Left is offering.

On the other hand, when it comes to religion and state, the situation is completely the opposite. For those who arrived from a country in which there was an extreme, even radical separation between religion and state, the Likud is seen as problematic because of its alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties.

Lieberman managed to crack the code, but he, too, has lost the thread in recent years. From the 15 seats his party won in 2009, Lieberman dropped to only five in the April election. The Russian-speaking public might be rigid, but they aren't stupid. Many of them called his bluff and abandoned him. This round could decide everything – both for them, and for Israeli society as a whole.

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The poll, conducted by New Wave Research, shows that approximately one-third of the Russian speakers who voted for Blue and White in April will instead be voting for the Likud or Yisrael Beytenu in the Sept. 17 do-over election.

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In the April Knesset election, votes from Russian-speaking Israelis gave Blue and White three of the 35 seats the party won. The findings from the new poll could mean the loss of at least one seat for the party in September.

In contrast to the Likud, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proudly entrusted the party's Russian-language election campaign to MK Robert Ilatov, who was formerly Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman's right-hand man, and Olympic athlete Alex Averbuch, Blue and White has made a single member of its list – Yoel Razvozov, who holds the 18^th slot on the party list – responsible for outreach to Russian-speakers.

The New Wave poll includes another interesting finding – that one-eighth of Russian-speaking voters say that if Razvozov were higher on the list, there would be more chance of their voting for Blue and White. This means that if Razvozov were moved up and Russian speakers voted accordingly, Blue and White could regain the seat it is currently in danger of losing.

However, one-fifth of the Russian speakers who voted for Blue and White said that if Razvozov were to leave Blue and White and join Yisrael Beytenu, they would be more likely to vote for Yisrael Beytenu, compared to one-eighth of Russian speakers who said if Razvozov left Blue and White for the Likud, they would be more likely to vote Likud.

Razvozov said that Blue and White must not "lose the Russian sector."

"We are and will continue to be an important player, because Russian speakers know that we can bring about change. This isn't the first time pollsters have asked [respondents] about me. I've gotten many serious offers from [other] parties, but I'm an inseparable part of Blue and White," he said.

"Some claim that the game for the Russian vote is between Yisrael Beytenu and the Likud, and I helped bring Blue and White good results from the Russian field in the last election. As far as it depends on me, I'll do everything I can, because we are an alternative to the party in power," Razvozov said.

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Last week, Syria's army, backed by Russian air power, launched ground operations against the southern flank of a rebel zone consisting of Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces.

"This military escalation must stop," the joint statement from the three countries, issued by Britain's Foreign Office, said.

"Airstrikes on population centers, indiscriminate bombardment and use of barrel bombs as well as the targeting of civilian and humanitarian infrastructures, notably schools and health facilities, are blatant violations of International Humanitarian Law."

Syrian troops on Monday captured five small villages and a hill on the edge of the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the country, as the leader of the main insurgent group in the region called on every able person to "perform his religious duty" and join the fight.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, claimed in a video interview with a local activist that government forces have suffered many losses while trying to advance into rebel-held areas over the past few days. Dressed in military uniform and holding an automatic rifle while seated under a tree, he claimed his militant group was gaining more fighters each day.

Al-Golani also said insurgents have the right to strike at a Russian base in Syria because "more than 90% of the Russian airstrikes are targeting women and children."

Syrian troops have been advancing on the rebels for nearly two weeks under the cover of Syrian and Russian airstrikes. Insurgents have also been blamed for firing rockets into Russia's air base in the nearby coastal province of Latakia.

Russia joined Syria's war in 2015, tipping the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad's forces. Opposition activists say Russian warplanes have been bombarding rebel-held areas intensely in recent weeks.

Much of Idlib is controlled by HTS, the largest and most powerful group in the area. Most of its fighters belonged to al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, formerly known as the Nusra Front.

The capture of more territory by Syrian troops comes as part of the latest push by government forces against the rebel-held enclave. So far, dozens have been killed and more than 150,000 have been displaced. Idlib is home to some 3 million people, many of them internally displaced from other parts of the country.

The pro-government Syrian Central Military Media said government forces captured the villages of Hawash, Jabrieh, Tawbeh, Sheikh Idris, Jub Suleiman and Hawash hill on the southern edges of Idlib.

The villages are near the strategic village of Kafr Nabudah, which Syrian troops entered last week. Opposition activists reported government airstrikes and shelling of different areas in Idlib.

Syrian state media reported that insurgents fired rockets into the Christian government-held town of Suqailabiyah, killing one person and wounding five. The shelling came a day after a rocket attack on the town killed five children and a woman.

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