Barak upbeat despite polls

Sharon camp confident Likud leader will be next prime minister

In this story: Israeli Arabs appear to boycott polls 'The lesser of the evils' Winner must balance Knesset factions RELATED STORIES, SITES

From CNN News Editor Randall H. Harber

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- With the polls predicting a big win for the Likud party leader Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he believes thousands of voters were turning back to him in Tuesday's election for prime minister.

"There was a dramatic shift back home in the peace camp in the last 24 hours," Barak said. "People who were angry at me are now realizing what the real alternative is and are coming back in tens and thousands every hour."

RESOURCES Israeli Election 2001    AUDIO Natan Sharansky, Israel is our Home party: Barak's campaign had no influence 471K/43 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on the low turnout in the election 816 KB/76 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri: Israelis want security without the peace 286K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Barak expresses hope after casting his vote 277K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace     ALSO Russians' key role in Israeli vote Some Palestinians fear Sharon win; others shrug

Sharon, a former defense minister and considered Israel's leading security hawk, was propelled to a lead of nearly 20 percentage points in the final opinion polls before an election viewed as a referendum on how Israel should deal with its Palestinian neighbors.

Barak's optimism came in the face of reports of moderate-to-low turnout, which observers expect will favor Sharon. Barak voted in his home district of Kochav Ya'ir, while Sharon cast his ballot in Jerusalem.

"This vote is about the future of Jerusalem," Sharon said. "Whoever wants to keep the unity and wholeness of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty forever and ever needs to vote for me. I will guard Jerusalem."

Sharon's campaign was so confident that the candidate made no campaign appearances Monday, instead concentrating on how to form a government. But Uzi Landau, a Likud member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said the Sharon camp is concerned that its supporters won't turn out, believing the election has been clinched already.

Particularly troubling to the Sharon camp, members of Orthodox parties gave the Likud leader only a lukewarm endorsement. Landau said Sharon wants to win by the biggest margin possible to make it easier for him to form a government.

Most of the polls leading up to Tuesday's ballot showed conservative candidate Sharon ahead by as much as 20 percentage points over Barak, the Labor Party leader elected in 1999. The vote comes after a campaign that observers consider one of the most lackluster in the history of Israel.

Voters from Israel's center and left wing are disillusioned with Barak's failure to clinch a peace deal, a CNN analysis of polling data has shown, and because of the violence that has killed at least 63 Israelis since September 29th.

Barak, 58, has repeatedly tried to paint Sharon as an extremist who would plunge Israel into a war. Sharon, 72, has attempted to stay out of the limelight, running ads that show him as a grandfather and asserting only he is strong enough to bring security to the country.

Israeli Arabs appear to boycott polls

Thousands of activists on both sides have been sent out to encourage potential voters to cast their ballots. But early turnout appeared low Tuesday.

There are just over 4.5 million voters eligible to cast ballots in the election. Israeli election officials said that by noon, 23.5 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots. That was a drop from 28.9 percent by noon during the 1999 election.

But at Umm el Fahm, an Arab Israeli town of about 18,000 people in northern Israel, voters were staying away from the polls. Voting officials said at a polling station for 760 people, only 10 had cast ballots by noon.

Barak's supporters are particularly concerned about a low turnout among Arab Israelis, who have been a key part of the Labor Party's winning margins in the past. Barak tried to coax those voters back to the polls on Tuesday.

"I can tell the Arab community, come to vote," Barak said. "Come to vote. We will win, the peace camp will win, the camp of the future of Israel will win."

Arab voters have expressed dissatisfaction at Barak's handling of the current round of violence and his slowness to express regret over the killing of Arab Israelis during the conflict. Barak offered a statement of "deep sadness" for those killings on Sunday.

'The lesser of the evils'

Barak reached out again to Arab Israelis Tuesday morning, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the death of a youngster who was killed in October.

But CNN reporters saw a 20-car convoy driving through Umm el Fahm displaying black and Palestinian flags. The convoy displayed a banner reading, "I will vote when the martyrs vote," indicating they would not be casting ballots.

And the disaffection among the electorate extends beyond the Arab community. At a Tel Aviv polling station, normally a Labor Party stronghold, one woman said, "I don't like both of them."

"It wasn't difficult. There is one of them I prefer less than the other, let's put it that way," she said. "My vote is for Barak, not Sharon, because he is the lesser of the evils."

But another voter said he was voting for Sharon because "Barak is a crazy man. He sells everything without getting anything."

Asked about Barak's charge that Sharon would lead Israel into a war, the man said, "I hope he will behave like a human being."

Winner must balance Knesset factions

The Israeli Central Election Committee will announce the official results February 13. The winning candidate then has 45 days to form a government, and Barak will remain in a caretaker role until the new government assumes office.

Tuesday's vote is the first in which Israeli voters are electing only the prime minister. Whoever wins will have an uphill battle to lead the country, because the deeply split Knesset is not up for re-election.

Sharon has said that if he wins, he will immediately attempt to form a national unity government that would include Barak's Labor Party. Michael Bar Zohar, a former Labor Party Knesset member, said that would be a must for Sharon.

"He doesn't want to be a prisoner of the extreme right wing, which supports him today, or the ultra-Orthodox," Zohar told CNN.

Barak has said he has no interest in being involved in what he called an "extremist" government. But a key Barak aide said Monday night if Sharon wins and Barak joins the government, "he might be able to help steer the action."

Many expect new parliamentary elections to come soon, however, and if Labor is a partner in a Sharon government, "We will not have the opportunity to build ourselves," the Barak aide said.

Because of that, Zohar said, Tuesday's vote "brings to no result whatsoever."

"We didn't need it. We could have gone to a national election and formed a new government," he said.

Israelis vote amid threats
February 6, 2001
Israel ratchets up security as election nears
February 5, 2001
Barak tries to coax Israeli Arabs to polls as vote nears
February 4, 2001
Blow for Barak as Rabbis back Sharon
February 4, 2001
Barak: 'Fate of Israel' at stake in election
February 1, 2001
Barak refuses to stand aside
January 31, 2001
Hope for new Mideast summit
January 30, 2001
Sharon calls peace talks a campaign ploy by Barak
January 28, 2001
Mideast negotiators want to continue talks after Israeli elections
January 27, 2001

Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Knesset, The Israeli Parliament
Likud
Meretz Party
Avoda (Labour) Party
World Economic Forum
Palestinian National Authority
PLO Negotiations Affairs Department
Israel Defense Forces
Palestinian Red Crescent
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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