Fifteen thousand Israeli police, soldiers, and civil guardsmen will be deployed Tuesday in an extensive operation to ensure that law and order is maintained during the prime-ministerial election, reported The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
Police Insp.-Gen., Shlomo Aharonishky, said police have received several reports regarding the intentions of the Arab sector in the north of the country to interfere with the election, adding that any attempt to disturb the peace would be met with a firm response.
"We must take into account that attempts to interfere may come from public sectors that are calling for a boycott of the election," he said, adding that police, in coordination with Central Elections Committee chairman, Mishael Cheshin, will not hesitate to close down polling booths if trouble breaks out.
While special efforts will be made to mobilize security forces in areas where confrontation may occur, Aharonishky said the police had not have not received any specific threats of terror attacks.
A special communications center, called "Mo'ed 2001," is already operational at police headquarters, and will continue to function until all the ballots have been counted.
With less than twenty-four hours for the election day, hard-line frontrunner, Ariel Sharon, and incumbent Prime Minister Ehud Barak published last minute appeals to Israel's 4.1 million voters, AFP said.
Barak, facing almost certain defeat as he is trailing Sharon by between 17 and 21 points in the latest opinion polls, according to a front-page article in the top-selling Yediot Aharonot.
The election was a clear-cut choice between war and peace, said the paper.
"We must decide if between us and peace there will be another bloody war, its outcome unknown," Barak wrote. "A moment before you decide, remember: When a government makes such tragic mistakes, ultimately the boys are the ones buried -- not the government."
Sharon, who has conducted a low-key campaign ahead of Tuesday's poll, looked to set the tone for his probable administration by calling for a unity government, and vowing to bring an end to the four-month-old wave of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, added the agency.
"The day after I am elected, I will create a national unity government, as broad as possible, in an effort to heal the rifts in society, between right and left, religious and secular, immigrants and native citizens, Jews and Arabs," Sharon wrote.
"I believe with all my heart that peace must be sought from a position of unity."
Sharon repeated his campaign message that he will not negotiate a peace deal as long the uprising continues in the Palestinian territories.
"Under my leadership, the government of Israel will not negotiate under fire nor reward violence," Sharon said, alluding to Barak's policies of continuing to talk to the Palestinians during the Intifada, AFP said -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
