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Morning News

Israel Decides: Nation in 'Mood of Disillusionment'

Aired February 6, 2001 - 11:03 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: Decision day in Israel. Voting places close in less than four hours now. According to opinion polls, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is the underdog right now after 19 months in office, facing an uphill fight to keep his job. Many observers expect Mr. Barak's challenger, Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon, to become Israel's 11th prime minister. We could get our first indications of today's election results around 3:00 Eastern this afternoon, so stay with us. We'll have that for you here.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, again, with a look at the impact of today's elections and some analysis, joining us is our CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider, who found his way to Tel Aviv for these elections.

Bill, hello.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hello. Good evening.

As an American visiting in Israel, what's the impression you're getting of this election?

SCHNEIDER: Well, Israelis, I think, are in a mood of disillusionment. I mean, this really is an election where the issue is illusions about the peace process. Can they afford to continue their illusions? And that's why they're very sober about this election. There's not a lot of excitement. There's more a sense of resignation that this is an election they never wanted to have.

KAGAN: And do you see any parallels to the recent American election of people disillusioned with the choices? They don't really like either man.

SCHNEIDER: Well, yes, that's definitely true. In fact, I went to a polling place today here in Tel Aviv and there were canvassers outside not for either candidate, but trying to convince people to cast a blank ballot.

You know, the Israeli voting system, I don't think they're going to have the same problems they had in the United States. I can tell you there is no Hebrew word for "chad."

(LAUGHTER) They have a simpler voting system. They don't use punch cards. I went into the polling place, actually. They give the voter an envelope, and then the voter goes into the voting booth and there are little piles of paper. Wait, I took some, and I'll show you.

KAGAN: Oh, no.

SCHNEIDER: The voter takes a ballot.

KAGAN: Are you allowed do that?

SCHNEIDER: Yes.

KAGAN: OK.

SCHNEIDER: They said, CNN, yes, have a ballot. They can vote either for Ariel Sharon, put this in the envelope and they voted for Sharon. They can vote for Ehud Barak. That's what this says. Or, third, they can cast a blank ballot. There are blank sheets of paper. And there is a campaign out there telling people, cast a blank ballot in protest. And we're going to see if a lot of voters decide to do that.

I suppose there's not a lot of room for error, as we had in the United States, unless people decide that they're giving away note paper and forget to vote and just take piles of ballots home.

KAGAN: There's that. And, you know, in terms of a Hebrew word for chad, Bill, we didn't know there was an English word for chad, most of us...

(LAUGHTER)

... until this last election.

SCHNEIDER: That's right.

KAGAN: So we're learning as we go.

Now, let's get back to the discussion of these two men. If there is a sense of disillusionment and so many voters are not pleased with either, why, then, does Ariel Sharon appear to have such a strong lead?

SCHNEIDER: Well, this is really a repudiation of two different figures: Ehud Barak, the incumbent prime minister, and Yasser Arafat, whom Israelis have concluded is really not a partner for peace.

Barak, a lot of voters felt betrayed by him as prime minister. He came in on a lot of promises to reform the system, and then he reneged on those promises. In the peace process, he made unthinkable concessions about the territories and about Jerusalem to the Palestinians. The Palestinians, Arafat, rejected those concessions out of hand. And instead of getting more security, they got four months of violence.

So this election really is a referendum on security.

Ariel Sharon, a lot of Israelis are amazed because he seems to be the front-runner. A few months ago, they couldn't have imagined voting for Sharon for prime minister. But all of his former weaknesses have become strengths. He's a hardliner, but that means to a lot of Israelis he's tough. He's an old man, he's in his 70s, but to a lot of Israelis that means he's now become mellower and won't be as extreme as he used to be.

So they're astonishing themselves by giving Sharon a lot of their votes.

KAGAN: Assuming that Ariel Sharon does win this election, explain to us how the transfer of power would work, and I'm thinking in comparison to the inauguration. I was just in Washington, D.C. a couple weeks ago to witness the U.S. transfer of power. How does it work in Israel?

SCHNEIDER: Oh, in Israel it's not quite as simple. That's where it gets more complicated. They're electing a prime minister, but after he's elected he has to try top form a government. He has 45 days to do that. And the question is, what's going to happen the day after? Will he be able to form a government he -- with the Labor Party? I mean, this sounds incredible, but Sharon has already indicated he wants to include his opponent, Ehud Barak, the prime minister, in his Cabinet as defense minister to try to form a national unity government here in Israel.

Will he be able to do that? Well, a lot depends on what the election returns look like. If Barak does very, very well, better than, quote, "expected" -- and he's expected to lose in a landslide -- but if he does very well in this election but Sharon wins, he may decide he doesn't want to go into a government with Sharon because he doesn't want to sell out.

KAGAN: Be interesting to see how it plays out. Bill Schneider, joining us from Tel Aviv, thank you very much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KAGAN: And thanks for bringing the souvenirs along from the ballot box.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

KAGAN: Appreciate the visual aides as well.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

KAGAN: Thank you, Bill.

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