Beit El, West Bank, Tel Aviv, Israel and Gai Gate, near Jerusalem 5 February 2001
Beit El, West Bank - 5 February
1. Soldiers arriving at polling station
2. Soldiers inside casting their votes
3. Close up of ballots being placed in ballot boxes
Gai Gate, near Jerusalem
4. Barak arriving at campaign stop
5. Handshakes with supporters
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister
7. Barak gets into car in convoy
8. Convoy departs
Tel Aviv - 5 February
9. Setup of press conference
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Amos Oz, Israeli writer
Tel Aviv
11. Exterior shot of Likud Party headquarters, pan to police tape
12. Sharon arrives and waves
13. Setup shot of Tsahi Hanegbi, Likud MK
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tsahi Hanegbi, Likud MK
15. Rear view of Sharon's car
Jerusalem - 5 February
16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ahmed Tibi, Israeli Arab Knesset member
17. Setup Ziad Abu Ziad
18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ziad Abu Ziad, Jerusalem Minister, Palestinian Authority
19. Exterior of Interior Ministry office
20. Close up of sign on wall
21. Wide shot of people waiting to be registered
Hebrew/Eng/Nat
XFA
In the final run up to Tuesday's Israeli election, all the indicators point to a resounding victory for Ariel Sharon, the right wing candidate who has captured the hopes of many disillusioned Israelis.
An influential Likud member of the Knesset, Tsahi Hanegbi, speaking at party headquarters, was upbeat about Mr Sharon's chances.
He said Sharon has always been a staunch supporter of the Israeli state and pointed to his involvement in peace treaties with both Jordan and Egypt as proof of his ability as a peacemaker.
Despite new opinion polls released on Monday showing Sharon with an 18 per cent lead amongst voters, sitting premier Ehud Barak said he remained confident.
He was backed up by prominent Israeli writer Amos Oz, who addressed a press conference of left wing professors and academics, both Jewish and Arab, calling on the people of Israel to continue Yitzhak Rabin's legacy and vote for Barak and peace.
Oz said that the opinion polls were inaccurate and did not take into account undecided voters, who he said numbered thousands.
He warned Israelis to be wary of Tuesday's ballot, saying they would be making a critical choice between peace and war.
If Barak is to stand any chance, he will have to win over Israeli Arabs.
They represent one sixth of Israel's population, but plan to boycott the election in protest at the 13 Arab Israelis shot dead by Israeli security forces since the latest intifada began last October.
At the Knesset, Israeli Arab member Ahmed Tibi confirmed that Israeli Arabs would not cast their support for either candidate.
That will cost Barak dear - over 90 per cent of Israeli Arab votes went to him in the last election.
Speaking for the Palestinians, Ziad Abu Ziad, Minister in charge of Jerusalem Affairs, said they considered the election an internal Israeli matter but, he said that they would like to see someone who is committed to the peace process elected leader.
Israeli soldiers based near Beit El, adjoining the flash point West Bank city of Ramallah, have already cast their votes, a day ahead of the rest of the electorate.
Soldiers on active duty always vote in advance, leaving them free to carry out security and other duties on election day.
This year, Israeli security forces are under high alert for possible attempts by Palestinian militants wishing to carry out terror attacks on election day.
Meanwhile, many Israelis rushed to register to vote on Monday after a municipal strike left the Jerusalem registration office closed for more than a week.
Now, with less than a day to go before the vote, there were long queues and even longer delays.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I am optimistic and believe I will win. My way towards peace is the only way forward, that means setting clear borders between Palestinians and Israelis."
SUPER CAPTION: Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Ignore public opinion polls, there are hundreds of thousands of Israelis who are not yet decided. And I say that he or she will have to live with the fact, very much like the Gore/Bush elections in America, very much the Florida syndrome, who will have to live with the fact that his or her vote sentenced Israel and Palestine to another war. I don't envy him or her."
SUPER CAPTION: Amos Oz, Israeli writer
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We cannot give our confidence and our trust to Barak after we gave him at least 96 percent in the last election in 1999 and he neglected all our demands. It started in mistakes in the civil issue and finishing with very great mistakes shutting his police, his police shutting 13 of us."
SUPER CAPTION: Ahmed Tibi, Israeli Knesset member
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We consider the Israeli elections an internal Israeli affair and we don't want to intervene in the internal affairs of Israel. At the same time we are concerned to see in the office of Israel a Prime Minister who will respect the peace process, who will be committed to the peace process and who will do something in order to save the peace process from the problem which is facing it."
SUPER CAPTION: Ziad Abu Ziad, Jerusalem Minister, Palestinian Authority
