KIRYAT MOTZKIN, ISRAEL — Portraits of two Israeli Arab politicians, defaced by red Hebrew letters reading "Shame and Disgrace!" flashed on a giant video screen. Jeering erupted in the hall, packed for the tough-talking candidate whose bid to lead Israel is propelled by unease about its Arab minority.
Avigdor Lieberman's attacks on Arabs have shaken up the race for parliament and prime minister. He is drawing large, boisterous crowds that delight in chanting his slogan -- "Without loyalty, there is no citizenship" -- and back his proposal for a mandatory loyalty oath to the Jewish state.
Fueled by the political fallout from Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, Lieberman has scored the biggest gains in the final week of the campaign. Polls published Friday show that his party, Israel Is Our Home, has climbed into third place. That means Lieberman, once a marginal provocateur on the extreme right, could well be the pivotal player as Israel forms a multiparty governing coalition after Tuesday's election.
The outcome of the race will weigh on the Obama administration's options for pursuing Middle East peace. Because neither of the leading candidates could easily form a majority coalition without Lieberman, the next government is likely to be more hawkish than the current one.
Lieberman's momentum has drained support from front-runner Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the conservative opposition Likud Party, narrowing his lead over Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the centrist Kadima party and making the race too close to call.
Alarmed by Lieberman's rise, many rivals denounce his rhetoric as racist and inflammatory.
"This is a person who brings out the darkest urges of part of the Israeli public," said Shelly Yacimovich, a lawmaker from the left-leaning Labor Party. "His slogan endangers democracy. He is the moral red line we must not cross."
Yet the two leading candidates, wary of his clout, have refrained from criticizing him.
The Moldovan immigrant, who once served as Netanyahu's chief of staff, appears to be the main beneficiary of nationalist passions aroused by the assault on Hamas militants after years of rocket fire from Gaza. Israelis' deep skepticism over peace prospects has only made his message sound more mainstream.
Netanyahu may have scored with voters by criticizing the decision by Livni and other senior ministers to halt the offensive last month with Hamas still in control of the Palestinian territory.
