|  |
Putin will meet many Russian speakers during his visit
|
Russian Israelis struggle to fit in
"In Russia, I was just like everyone else, we lived badly, but here I'm lower than other people," he says, "In Russia I was an engineer."
"I'm half pleased to live here though. Israel is my country. I'm Jewish. But I had difficulty finding work. And because I don't speak Hebrew people sometimes treat me like a child."
At the Mahane Yehuda market in the heart of Jerusalem, you'll see many Russian Israelis - the younger men often working as security guards.
They're trying to fit in. And, after a decade together, many Israelis are beginning to warm to their brothers from the eastern bloc.
Recognition
But a negative image does remain.
"Some of them make trouble - because of drugs and mafia and stuff," says one shopper.
"They're cool people. I like them, they're very chilled out," says another.
So the visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin may recognise a lot from home in Israel.
And with Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon he may not even need an interpreter.
Mr Sharon speaks passable Russian - a language he learned from his family who made their own journey from the east many years ago.
| 
News
