Last-minute polls in today's papers show no major changes, and Prof. Yitzchak Katz of Tel Aviv University, head of Brain Bank, has full confidence in the surveys. He was asked today, "Isn't it true that because there are so many parties and so many undecided voters, that the forecasts really can't be very exact?" His response:
"We see that there are so many polls all showing more or less the same picture, such that they all produce a pretty precise and uniform picture... Of course there can be surprises, such as on the extremes - but the main trends, as well as the general breakdown between right and left, are basically already known…" He said that today's polls are improving in that instead of polling only 500 people, "they now often speak with 1,000 and 1,500 respondents…" How much does a survey cost? "A basic poll of 500 people should cost from $2,500 to $3,500…"
Former Shas political leader Aryeh Deri, whose supporters were pointedly left off the party's candidate list for the upcoming Knesset, is making a pitch to convince a Shas competitor - Ahavat Yisrael - to withdraw from the race. The newly-formed Ahavat Yisrael party is not expected to garner any seats in any event, but it could attract just enough votes from the traditional Sephardi public to cost Shas a Knesset seat.
Close to 15% of the 4.7 million eligible voters are still undecided as to their vote tomorrow, according to latest polls. Some 25,500 police and security personnel will guard over 8,000 polling stations during the elections.
Hussein Ganaim, #2 on the Arab party list headed by MK Hashem Mahmeed, claims he was the target of an attempted assassination attempt last night. He said that as he was driving along the main street of Kfar Kama last night, a car passed by and two bullets were shot from within. One of them hit his back tire, but Ganaim was unhurt. Sources in Mahmeed's party say that some Arab elements have been trying to "persuade" them not to run in tomorrow's election.
A 21-year-old Likud activist from Bnei Brak was killed this morning when he stopped on the side of the highway to hang a Likud sign. He stopped the car at the Shapirim Junction on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, got out of the car, and was hit by a passing truck driven by a 33-year-old Arab from the Galilee. The victim's two friends were also badly injured.
"We see that there are so many polls all showing more or less the same picture, such that they all produce a pretty precise and uniform picture... Of course there can be surprises, such as on the extremes - but the main trends, as well as the general breakdown between right and left, are basically already known…" He said that today's polls are improving in that instead of polling only 500 people, "they now often speak with 1,000 and 1,500 respondents…" How much does a survey cost? "A basic poll of 500 people should cost from $2,500 to $3,500…"
Former Shas political leader Aryeh Deri, whose supporters were pointedly left off the party's candidate list for the upcoming Knesset, is making a pitch to convince a Shas competitor - Ahavat Yisrael - to withdraw from the race. The newly-formed Ahavat Yisrael party is not expected to garner any seats in any event, but it could attract just enough votes from the traditional Sephardi public to cost Shas a Knesset seat.
Close to 15% of the 4.7 million eligible voters are still undecided as to their vote tomorrow, according to latest polls. Some 25,500 police and security personnel will guard over 8,000 polling stations during the elections.
Hussein Ganaim, #2 on the Arab party list headed by MK Hashem Mahmeed, claims he was the target of an attempted assassination attempt last night. He said that as he was driving along the main street of Kfar Kama last night, a car passed by and two bullets were shot from within. One of them hit his back tire, but Ganaim was unhurt. Sources in Mahmeed's party say that some Arab elements have been trying to "persuade" them not to run in tomorrow's election.
A 21-year-old Likud activist from Bnei Brak was killed this morning when he stopped on the side of the highway to hang a Likud sign. He stopped the car at the Shapirim Junction on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, got out of the car, and was hit by a passing truck driven by a 33-year-old Arab from the Galilee. The victim's two friends were also badly injured.