Voting in Israel continues to be relatively light; only some 51% of the eligible voters had had exercised their democratic right by 6 PM - compared with 61% at this time during the 1999 elections. The low turnout was not unexpected, both because of the limited nature of the election - only for Prime Minister and not the entire Knesset - and also because of the large margin of victory predicted for Ariel Sharon. Relatively few disturbances were registered at polling places around the country. Television predictions will be released at 10 PM, when the polls will close, and definite results should be known within 2-4 hours afterwards.
In the camps of both Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak optimism was felt this morning, but Sharon’s optimism was buttressed by polls of last night showing victory margins of 20% and more for the Likud candidate. Leaders in both campaigns continued to call all day upon their followers to fulfill their civic responsibility and vote.
Ehud Barak voted this morning in his hometown of Kokhav Ya’ir, while Ariel Sharon was attending the brit milah (ritual circumcision) ceremony of his twin grandsons - newly named Yoav and Ori - in his Havat HaShikmim family farm in the south. Sharon, who is registered as a resident of eastern Jerusalem\'s Moslem Quarter, later voted in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit HaKerem, where, for security considerations, Moslem Quarter residents were assigned to vote.
Shimon Peres has already jumped to some conclusions from the present election - on behalf of Ehud Barak. “Ehud will have to draw conclusions from his failure,” he told CNN today, saying that if Barak loses by a large margin, he would have to quit the party leadership. Peres said that Barak should have given him a chance to run in this election, \"in light of the polls - which are, after all, the voice of the public.” Peres himself has been tripped up in past elections by polls which mistakenly predicted a victory for him. Barak has said recently that even if he loses, he will not step down from the leadership of the Labor party.
In the camps of both Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak optimism was felt this morning, but Sharon’s optimism was buttressed by polls of last night showing victory margins of 20% and more for the Likud candidate. Leaders in both campaigns continued to call all day upon their followers to fulfill their civic responsibility and vote.
Ehud Barak voted this morning in his hometown of Kokhav Ya’ir, while Ariel Sharon was attending the brit milah (ritual circumcision) ceremony of his twin grandsons - newly named Yoav and Ori - in his Havat HaShikmim family farm in the south. Sharon, who is registered as a resident of eastern Jerusalem\'s Moslem Quarter, later voted in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit HaKerem, where, for security considerations, Moslem Quarter residents were assigned to vote.
Shimon Peres has already jumped to some conclusions from the present election - on behalf of Ehud Barak. “Ehud will have to draw conclusions from his failure,” he told CNN today, saying that if Barak loses by a large margin, he would have to quit the party leadership. Peres said that Barak should have given him a chance to run in this election, \"in light of the polls - which are, after all, the voice of the public.” Peres himself has been tripped up in past elections by polls which mistakenly predicted a victory for him. Barak has said recently that even if he loses, he will not step down from the leadership of the Labor party.