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CNN Live At Daybreak
Israel's Election: Low Voter Turnout
Aired January 28, 2003 - 06:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Israel for the big vote, but can you say low voter turnout.
Our Jerrold Kessel is at a polling station in Tel Aviv, and he's here to bring us up to date.
Go to it -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
And six hours Israelis have been voting in the elections here. We're at this Tel Aviv polling station. It's a school. And behind the polling booth, a man choosing his -- one of the 27 parties that are up for election for the Israeli Parliament. Israelis vote just for one -- one vote for a party, not for the prime minister, but the outcome of this election could depend very much on the voter turnout.
Now we've seen a fairly brisk turnout, but not quite as much as usual. The latest opinion polls marked at (ph) 24 percent at just about a half an hour ago compared to the usual turnout four years ago of 28-29 percent and that was one of the lowest polls ever. So it does seem as if many Israelis are deciding to stay away from these elections and that could have an impact on the outcome -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It certainly could.
Tell us again why America should care about this election -- Jerrold.
KESSEL: Well, there's an interesting thing about the way the United States has been involved. Of course Israel and the United States close allies. And it's clear that over the last year Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush have developed a very close relationship and they do seem to have a strategic understanding of where the United -- where the Middle East ought to be going, both in terms of Israel's relations with the Palestinians and in that broader concept of the future of the Middle East in terms of what the United States wants to do with Iraq. No secret that Mr. Bush has been clearly in favor of Mr. Sharon remaining in power as a stable force.
The problem might be that there might be instability if Mr. Sharon is unable to develop a real sizeable coalition and that could be, not problems, but a difficulty for the United States seeing an unstable Israeli government -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel reporting live from Tel Aviv, many thanks to you. And don't miss CNN's special live coverage of the Israeli vote hosted by our own Christiane Amanpour. That comes your way today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 Pacific Time, just about the time the polls close in Israel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 28, 2003 - 06:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Israel for the big vote, but can you say low voter turnout.
Our Jerrold Kessel is at a polling station in Tel Aviv, and he's here to bring us up to date.
Go to it -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
And six hours Israelis have been voting in the elections here. We're at this Tel Aviv polling station. It's a school. And behind the polling booth, a man choosing his -- one of the 27 parties that are up for election for the Israeli Parliament. Israelis vote just for one -- one vote for a party, not for the prime minister, but the outcome of this election could depend very much on the voter turnout.
Now we've seen a fairly brisk turnout, but not quite as much as usual. The latest opinion polls marked at (ph) 24 percent at just about a half an hour ago compared to the usual turnout four years ago of 28-29 percent and that was one of the lowest polls ever. So it does seem as if many Israelis are deciding to stay away from these elections and that could have an impact on the outcome -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It certainly could.
Tell us again why America should care about this election -- Jerrold.
KESSEL: Well, there's an interesting thing about the way the United States has been involved. Of course Israel and the United States close allies. And it's clear that over the last year Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush have developed a very close relationship and they do seem to have a strategic understanding of where the United -- where the Middle East ought to be going, both in terms of Israel's relations with the Palestinians and in that broader concept of the future of the Middle East in terms of what the United States wants to do with Iraq. No secret that Mr. Bush has been clearly in favor of Mr. Sharon remaining in power as a stable force.
The problem might be that there might be instability if Mr. Sharon is unable to develop a real sizeable coalition and that could be, not problems, but a difficulty for the United States seeing an unstable Israeli government -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel reporting live from Tel Aviv, many thanks to you. And don't miss CNN's special live coverage of the Israeli vote hosted by our own Christiane Amanpour. That comes your way today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 Pacific Time, just about the time the polls close in Israel.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
