The rabbis of the United Torah Judaism party have come out with a call to vote for Ariel Sharon - though they don\'t mention him by name. Sharon plans not to speak on the media until the end of the election campaign this Tuesday; he even canceled a previously scheduled interview with Arutz-7. Prime Minister Barak, on the other hand, granted an exclusive interview to Abu Dhabi Television over the weekend, and called upon Israeli-Arabs to vote for him.
Barak\'s campaign team is making last ditch efforts to convince Labor supporters all over Israel, many of whom plan not to vote, to come to the polling stations on election day. Labor activists are focusing their efforts in Israeli Arab villages, where residents traditionally support the Labor party candidate. However, Voice of Palestine radio, controlled by Yasser Arafat, announced Saturday morning: \"A campaign is being waged by Palestinians inside the Green Line to boycott the elections to Israeli Prime Minister on Feb. 6. And a convoy of cars is traveling around calling on Palestinians inside the Green Line not to vote for any of the candidates for the prime ministry - the rightist extremist Ariel Sharon or the resigning Prime Minister Ehud Barak at a time when Sharon had a big edge on Barak.\" So reports Israel Resource News Agency.
The Palestinian Authority further signaled its support of the Islamic Movement\'s call for an election boycott when it invited Sheikh Rai\'d Salah - the mayor of Um al-Fahem and the head of the movement\'s radical northern section - on its morning news show as an interviewee:
Q: \"In which of the boxes should the voters cast their votes?\"
A: \"In neither. Not this and not that, because the victory of our
Palestinian masses inside the Green Line requires the boycott of the
elections completely.. The ballot boxes must be returned as empty as when
they came...\"
Barak\'s campaign team is making last ditch efforts to convince Labor supporters all over Israel, many of whom plan not to vote, to come to the polling stations on election day. Labor activists are focusing their efforts in Israeli Arab villages, where residents traditionally support the Labor party candidate. However, Voice of Palestine radio, controlled by Yasser Arafat, announced Saturday morning: \"A campaign is being waged by Palestinians inside the Green Line to boycott the elections to Israeli Prime Minister on Feb. 6. And a convoy of cars is traveling around calling on Palestinians inside the Green Line not to vote for any of the candidates for the prime ministry - the rightist extremist Ariel Sharon or the resigning Prime Minister Ehud Barak at a time when Sharon had a big edge on Barak.\" So reports Israel Resource News Agency.
The Palestinian Authority further signaled its support of the Islamic Movement\'s call for an election boycott when it invited Sheikh Rai\'d Salah - the mayor of Um al-Fahem and the head of the movement\'s radical northern section - on its morning news show as an interviewee:
Q: \"In which of the boxes should the voters cast their votes?\"
A: \"In neither. Not this and not that, because the victory of our
Palestinian masses inside the Green Line requires the boycott of the
elections completely.. The ballot boxes must be returned as empty as when
they came...\"