Israelis Vote in Elections to Decide West Bank Future
Jerusalem
28 March 2006
Millions of Israelis are casting their ballots Tuesday in elections that could decide the future of the West Bank. At least two Arab Israelis were killed in an attack by Palestinian militants, near the Gaza border.
More than 20,000 police are out in force, patrolling near more than 8,000 polling stations, as Israelis vote under heavy security. Election Day is a holiday in Israel and exit polls could indicate an early winner, after voting closes, at 22:00 local time
Voting at the Adam school in Jerusalem's upscale German Colony neighborhood were Miriam and her fiancée, Yahel. The two young Israelis were not only voting on Tuesday, they were also getting married. Dressed in her wedding dress, as she went in to the polling booth, Miriam said she hoped Tuesday's election would bring more tolerance to a troubled region.
"I wish there would be more tolerance between all the different sections - and I am not only talking about Jews and Arabs - just, in general, more tolerance," she said.
Polls show the centrist Kadima Party of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert favored to win, although Kadima's support has slipped somewhat in recent days. Writing in a large Hebrew-language daily newspaper published Tuesday, Mr. Olmert says if he forms the next government, no Jewish settlements will be left east of Israel's controversial separation barrier - even though he says he plans to keep three large settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Not far from Jerusalem's German Colony is the Arab neighborhood. Beit Tzafafa, where Antigone was casting her ballot on Tuesday at the local high school. She says her main concerns are focused on Israel's Arab minority population.
"Human rights, mainly, and the rights of the Palestinians people. This is very important because, if they do not get their rights, we will never live in peace in Israel," she said.
Tuesday's elections were called after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon left the ruling Likud Party to form the new centrist Kadima Party, shortly before he suffered a massive stroke. Yitzhak Brudny, a professor of political science at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, says Kadima's strength has never been tested and turnout will be the key to its success.
"If Kadima, which is a virtual structure - it does not have a strong organization or activists on the ground - can translate its popularity in the polls into the turnout of its voters of people willing to vote for it," said Brudny. "Whether Kadima has this logistic ability to bring its voters to the polls - that is the thing to watch."
No party has ever won an outright majority in Israel's 120-seat Knesset. The latest polls show Kadima winning about 30 seats which means, if current trends hold, hard bargaining in the days ahead for Mr. Olmert and his Kadima colleagues, in their bid to form a government that will draw Israel's final border with the Palestinians.
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