Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Israelis Go to Polls Tomorrow

Aired January 27, 2003 - 14:27   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Soldiers in the Israeli army got to vote early in the general election. For the rest of the nation, tomorrow's balloting will be held with Israel's security in shambles and its economy in a tailspin. The vote has little suspense, but enormous implication.
CNN's Mike Hanna joins us now live from Tel Aviv with a preview -- Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Kyra, candidates from nearly 30 parties are wrapping up their campaigns, as some 4.5 million Israelis prepare to elect a new government.

All opinion polls indicate that Ariel Sharon's Likud party will be a handy winner, predicting that that party will gain anywhere between 30 to 34 seats. The question is not who is going to win this election, but what kind of government is Ariel Sharon going to form?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: For 20 months, Ariel Sharon held his government together, parties submerging their ideological differences and presenting a united front in the face of the ongoing Palestinian intifada. But then a showdown over financing of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. Led by the incumbent minister of defense, the Labor Party withdrew from government, and Sharon no longer commanded a clear majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

The prime minister's only apparent option: to form a coalition with parties to the right, but they made demands that Ariel Sharon found unacceptable.

ARIEL SHARON, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I'm not going to change, and I'm going to stick to the guidelines of the existing government.

HANNA: He called a new election, and despite ongoing investigations of corruption within its ranks, the Likud party is on its way to being the dominant political force in the new parliament.

For decades, this was the position held by Labor that polls indicate that this traditionally dovish party is leaking support. More and more voters, it would appear, switching to the Shinui Party, which threatens to take over Labor's primary opposition status.

But Shinui, vehemently secular, says it will not sit in a coalition government with the ultrareligious Shas (ph) Party. (on camera): And in this, a major problem for Ariel Sharon when he tries to form a new government. With the weakened Labor Party and Shinui refusing to sit in government with the powerful ultrareligious block, the prime minister's options are limited. Restricted, it would seem, to forming the very narrow right wing government that he called these elections to avoid.

(voice-over): And the bitter reality for an electorate seeking security that the result may well be ongoing uncertainty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: Ongoing uncertainty indeed, a backdrop to this election, ongoing violence as the Palestinian intifada continues, and also a wider reality beyond this particular region, the possibility of a U.S.-led regime change in Iraq. That would impact greatly on this, as in other parts, and indeed, all observers predicting that should this war with Iraq go ahead, all this talk of coalition making will go away. Candidates from all the political parties in Israel have said in that event, there will be a government of national unity -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Live from Tel Aviv, Mike Hanna.

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 27, 2003 - 14:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Soldiers in the Israeli army got to vote early in the general election. For the rest of the nation, tomorrow's balloting will be held with Israel's security in shambles and its economy in a tailspin. The vote has little suspense, but enormous implication.
CNN's Mike Hanna joins us now live from Tel Aviv with a preview -- Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Kyra, candidates from nearly 30 parties are wrapping up their campaigns, as some 4.5 million Israelis prepare to elect a new government.

All opinion polls indicate that Ariel Sharon's Likud party will be a handy winner, predicting that that party will gain anywhere between 30 to 34 seats. The question is not who is going to win this election, but what kind of government is Ariel Sharon going to form?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: For 20 months, Ariel Sharon held his government together, parties submerging their ideological differences and presenting a united front in the face of the ongoing Palestinian intifada. But then a showdown over financing of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. Led by the incumbent minister of defense, the Labor Party withdrew from government, and Sharon no longer commanded a clear majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament.

The prime minister's only apparent option: to form a coalition with parties to the right, but they made demands that Ariel Sharon found unacceptable.

ARIEL SHARON, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I'm not going to change, and I'm going to stick to the guidelines of the existing government.

HANNA: He called a new election, and despite ongoing investigations of corruption within its ranks, the Likud party is on its way to being the dominant political force in the new parliament.

For decades, this was the position held by Labor that polls indicate that this traditionally dovish party is leaking support. More and more voters, it would appear, switching to the Shinui Party, which threatens to take over Labor's primary opposition status.

But Shinui, vehemently secular, says it will not sit in a coalition government with the ultrareligious Shas (ph) Party. (on camera): And in this, a major problem for Ariel Sharon when he tries to form a new government. With the weakened Labor Party and Shinui refusing to sit in government with the powerful ultrareligious block, the prime minister's options are limited. Restricted, it would seem, to forming the very narrow right wing government that he called these elections to avoid.

(voice-over): And the bitter reality for an electorate seeking security that the result may well be ongoing uncertainty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: Ongoing uncertainty indeed, a backdrop to this election, ongoing violence as the Palestinian intifada continues, and also a wider reality beyond this particular region, the possibility of a U.S.-led regime change in Iraq. That would impact greatly on this, as in other parts, and indeed, all observers predicting that should this war with Iraq go ahead, all this talk of coalition making will go away. Candidates from all the political parties in Israel have said in that event, there will be a government of national unity -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Live from Tel Aviv, Mike Hanna.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com