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Morning News

Israel Decides: Israeli Security Forces on High Alert Ahead of Tuesday's Election; Polls Show Sharon Leading Barak by 20 Points

Aired February 5, 2001 - 9:05 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli security forces are on high alert ahead of Tuesday's election for prime minister. Incumbent Ehud Barak faces hardline challenger Ariel Sharon, and the late polls indicate that Sharon is favored to win.

CNN's Mike Hanna joins us now live from Tel Aviv. He's got the latest.

Mike, good morning.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Hello there.

Well, favorite to win, indeed. The latest polls show that Ariel Sharon is some 20 percentage points ahead of Ehud Barak in the race to become prime minister. This is a margin that has been consistent throughout the past weeks of the campaign. Some 4 million Israelis are eligible to vote. They'll be casting their ballots at close to 8,000 polling stations throughout the country.

Well, with a look at how the campaign has gone for the two candidates, here's CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With one day left before Israel's election for prime minister, Israelis woke up to the final opinion polls showing Ariel Sharon maintaining his commanding lead over Premiere Ehud Barak. Even the undecided and those who say they won't vote seem resigned to a Sharon victory.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One thing, I tell you, that definitely Sharon will have the majority.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One-hundred percent sure Sharon is going to take. So my vote for Barak won't change it.

SWEENEY: And as the final TV campaign ads were aired on Israeli television, Mr. Barak dismissed the polls, saying the only vote which counts is the one on Tuesday. But his aggressive last-minute electioneering has sharply contrasted with that of Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon, who has, of late, run a low-key campaign. Political commentators say this is a tactic designed to avoid hurting his huge lead in the polls over Mr. Barak. Visiting the town of Holon, Sharon told supporters that he would be better at negotiating peace with the Palestinians. And in a newspaper article published Monday, he reiterated his opposition to sharing sovereignty of Jerusalem, vowed to keep the Golan Heights, the Jordan Valley and the settlements, and stressed security as the most important issue.

Sharon has repeatedly said that, if elected, he will form a government of national unity.

MARK HELLER, ANALYST: It's not so much a problem of getting the coalition together, it's of keeping it intact over a long period of time. And that will be a serious problem for either candidate, unless they do a national unity government.

Separately, there was more violence in the West Bank and Gaza. The funeral took place in Gaza of a Palestinian man shot and killed by Israeli soldiers the day before. Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli bulldozers, backed up by tanks and soldiers, destroyed a number of Palestinian houses, leaving more than 60 people homeless. The Israelis say they took the action because of what they called a serious increase in the number of roadside bombs planted in Gaza in recent weeks.

(on camera): Unless Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak can confound the pollsters and the political commentators, Ariel Sharon will find himself on Wednesday morning trying to form a government. The question is whether it will be a broad coalition or a narrow government, including the far right and religious parties.

Fionnuala Sweeney, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: Well, Ehud Barak maintains he can still turn it around at the last moment, but virtually every commentator here agrees that, should he reverse this apparent trend as shown by the polls and defeat Ariel Sharon, it will be as big if not greater surprise than Truman's come-from-behind victory in the 1948 U.S. presidential elections.

Back to you.

HARRIS: All right, thanks so much. Mike Hanna reporting live this morning from Tel Aviv.

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