Israeli Candidates Battle for Voters on Eve of Election

Less than 24 hours are separating Israelis from heading to polling stations on Tuesday to decide on the composition of the 18th Knesset. In the last day left before the elections, all parties are engaged in last-ditch efforts to conquer voters' hearts, or at least make them cast the right ballot.

Kadima members remain optimistic, believing that the momentum is on their side. The last days' slogan, "Only Tzipi will defeat Bibi," will continue to stand out, and efforts will be invested in encouraging the activists and voters and in organizing Election Day. The party's main target is women and young people.

Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and leader of the centrist Kadima party that has headed the government for the last three years, distanced herself from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and reports of understandings he had reached with Palestinians during a year of revived peace talks.

Israeli media quoted Olmert as telling the new US Middle East envoy George Mitchell during his maiden trip to the region in January that he had agreed, among other things, to remove 60,000 settlers from the occupied West Bank and give Palestinians sovereignty over some sections of occupied Jerusalem.

"Each prime minister chooses his way, what he had chosen is not mine. I am not associated with this proposition," Livni told army radio, also distancing herself from indirect talks with Syria via Turkey.

Roni Bar-On, finance minister and a close Livni ally, said he did not exclude an alliance with Lieberman after the vote. "He is a big Zionist; there is no reason to exclude a possible coalition."

Ehud Barak, whose veteran Labor party is predicted to receive its worst-ever drubbing on Tuesday, underlined that negotiations were ongoing for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza resistance fighters in June 2006.

"We are in the midst of discussions that have to be done both on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the issue of Gilad Shalit," he told reporters before the weekly cabinet meeting. "The effort to bring about his release is immense... we dealt a heavy blow to Hamas and they're interested in a ceasefire. The Egyptians are also key players because they're responsible for halting the arms smuggling and they can make a significant contribution on the issue of Shalit," he said.

On Monday morning, the party will hold an event for its activists, after which the senior party members are planning to make phone calls to undecided voters. Chairwoman Tzipi Livni will ride the train from Tel Aviv to southern occupied territories, accompanied by some of the party's top politicians.

The Likud is sharpening its main message, which the party spokespeople will be reiterating in every interview in the last day before the elections: "A big Likud and a clear decision are needed in order for us to govern."

Sources in the party estimated that voters' shift to smaller right-wing parties has been halted and that people are moving back to the Likud. Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who toured the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, is expected to visit the party's headquarters in the south of the Zionist entity on Monday.

The equipment which will be used by the party's representatives at the polling stations will be transferred to the Likud headquarters across the Zionist entity on Monday, including parasols, umbrellas, tables and chairs.

Earlier, Livni received a vote of confidence from Olmert, who was ousted as party leader in part because of Livni's efforts. Speaking at a convention of the 18th Maccabiah Games, Olmert finally set aside the ambiguity that had surrounded his choice. "It will come as no surprise when I say that I support Kadima and hope Tzipi Livni will be elected prime minister," Olmert said. "Tzipi Livni is the candidate that can lead the State of Israel. She has sensitivity and wisdom."

Sources close to Livni said they were pleased with Olmert's statement. During the Gaza offensive, senior Kadima figures said Olmert was actually helping Netanyahu and hurting Livni.

Seeking support in the elections, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to stop rocket fire from Gaza as top candidates battled it out for a record number of undecided voters ahead of the general election. Speaking hours after a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a kibbutz near the Hamas-run enclave, Netanyahu - widely tipped to become prime minister after Tuesday's vote - vowed his government would put a stop to such attacks.

"It starts by sporadic firings, then turns into a downpour and finishes by a storm," Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing opposition Likud party, told army radio. "Under my government, there will no longer be downpours or storms and there will no longer be arms smuggling, especially rockets that can one day reach Tel Aviv," said the former premier.

Meanwhile, the preparations for the party's main event on Tuesday evening continue at Tel Aviv's Exhibition Park, where Likud candidates and voters, as well as Chairman Netanyahu, are expected to arrive after the publication of the final results in order to celebrate in case of a victory.

Labor Party officials are furious over the Kadima and Likud campaigns, which they claim are trying to hide Labor, critically harming the party. A senior party member said that "it's a mistake thinking that the battle is only between Tzipi and Bibi. In the end a coalition will have to be formed based on the blocs."

Labor will try to do everything to ensure that as many of the party's supporters arrive at the polling stations Tuesday. They will focus on efforts to bring back their former voters, who have left the party over the years.

According to former Minister Uzi Landau, the head of Yisrael Beiteinu's election headquarters, said Sunday evening, "We're entering the final stretch. We'll meet with the activists in the different headquarters, examine the lists and ensure that all plans are implemented – for example, that all supporters will be able to make it to the polling stations.

"The Knesset members will visit the party's offices and meet with the activists. We hope the wave of popularity we feel will reach its peak, but we also fear complacency," Landau added.

Chairman Avigdor Lieberman will visit the occupied Jerusalem headquarters on Monday, where he will oversee the preparations for Election Day. In the evening he plans to visit the Western Wall.

al Manar