Israel votes with future Mideast map at stake

JERUSALEM – Israel headed to the polls yesterday in a a pivotal election that could redraw the nation’s borders and determine the course of peacemaking in the Middle East.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, tipped to be the next premier, appealed to Israelis to go out and vote after a campaign that has largely failed to inspire the five million-strong electorate. “Go and vote and may this be a beautiful day for the people of Israel,” he said as he cast his ballot after polling stations opened at 7 am.The election to the 120-member Knesset or parliament is being seen as a referendum on Olmert’s pledge to set Israel’s final borders with the West Bank by 2010, unilaterally if necessary.Such a move would be in keeping with the policies of Olmert’s mentor, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma since January but whose political legacy is looming large over the vote.”These elections are among the most important in the history of our state,” President Moshe Katsav said on public radio.Olmert’s centrist Kadima party, which he and Sharon created last November in the biggest political upheaval since the creation of the Jewish state 58 years ago, has maintained a massive poll lead over both the right-wing Likud they deserted and the more dovish Labour party.”These elections create a golden opportunity to change Israel’s history,” said an editorial in the leading Ha’aretz newspaper.”Anyone who misses this opportunity – by putting an invalid slip in the ballot box or by abstaining – has essentially absented himself from the intricacies of Israeli life.”About 22 000 police are being stationed outside the 8 280 polling stations and troop reinforcements deployed across the country to try to prevent any attack by Palestinian militants.With the first ever Palestinian government led by Islamic militants also set to be approved by the new Hamas-dominated parliament yesterday, Israeli officials have kept up a tough rhetoric against the “terrorist entity” emerging next door.Prime minister’s office spokesman Raanan Gissin seized on the incoming Palestinian government’s failure to heed calls to renounce violence and respect international agreements as vindication of Israel’s policy of going it alone in the absence of a partner for peace.But moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas appealed for Israelis to “vote for peace” and eschew Olmert’s “unilateral plans which will not bring peace”.The prospect of a Palestinian government dominated by a group which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in a five-year uprising has cemented broad support in Israel for Olmert’s policy of unilateral disengagement.The election was called by Sharon in late November when he dramatically quit Likud in frustration at relentless right-wing opposition over last summer’s pullout from the Gaza Strip even within his own government.- Nampa-AFP”Go and vote and may this be a beautiful day for the people of Israel,” he said as he cast his ballot after polling stations opened at 7 am.The election to the 120-member Knesset or parliament is being seen as a referendum on Olmert’s pledge to set Israel’s final borders with the West Bank by 2010, unilaterally if necessary.Such a move would be in keeping with the policies of Olmert’s mentor, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma since January but whose political legacy is looming large over the vote.”These elections are among the most important in the history of our state,” President Moshe Katsav said on public radio.Olmert’s centrist Kadima party, which he and Sharon created last November in the biggest political upheaval since the creation of the Jewish state 58 years ago, has maintained a massive poll lead over both the right-wing Likud they deserted and the more dovish Labour party.”These elections create a golden opportunity to change Israel’s history,” said an editorial in the leading Ha’aretz newspaper.”Anyone who misses this opportunity – by putting an invalid slip in the ballot box or by abstaining – has essentially absented himself from the intricacies of Israeli life.”About 22 000 police are being stationed outside the 8 280 polling stations and troop reinforcements deployed across the country to try to prevent any attack by Palestinian militants.With the first ever Palestinian government led by Islamic militants also set to be approved by the new Hamas-dominated parliament yesterday, Israeli officials have kept up a tough rhetoric against the “terrorist entity” emerging next door.Prime minister’s office spokesman Raanan Gissin seized on the incoming Palestinian government’s failure to heed calls to renounce violence and respect international agreements as vindication of Israel’s policy of going it alone in the absence of a partner for peace.But moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas appealed for Israelis to “vote for peace” and eschew Olmert’s “unilateral plans which will not bring peace”.The prospect of a Palestinian government dominated by a group which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in a five-year uprising has cemented broad support in Israel for Olmert’s policy of unilateral disengagement.The election was called by Sharon in late November when he dramatically quit Likud in frustration at relentless right-wing opposition over last summer’s pullout from the Gaza Strip even within his own government.- Nampa-AFP