Benjamin Netanyahu May Narrowly Win Third Israel Election
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. We are following a huge turnout in Israel as the country's third elections in 11 months. Our Becky Anderson is on the ground as the clock ticks down. Becky, over to you.</s>BECKY ANDERSON, CNN MANAGING EDITOR: That's right, Christina, thank you. We are now less than an hour away from the polls closing here in Jerusalem and across Israel. And in an election this close, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political fate could all come down to turnout. Voters are trying to break months of unprecedented political gridlock. It may seem like deja vu with the very real prospect that, once again, Israelis could wake up tomorrow with no clear winner between Mr. Netanyahu's Likud Party, and Benny Gantz's Blue and White. But this time, turnout is at a 20-year high. Oren Liebermann is live at the Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv. And a text message being sent to mobiles in the past hour or so, reflecting just how close this is. The message in part, reading, message -- a disaster for Israel. The press are saying that the Arabs are voting in huge numbers. It's going to destroy the right-wing agenda. Go vote now. What do you make of that -- Oren.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to some extent, it's not surprising and we've seen similar messages like that over the course of the last three campaigns, even going back to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's message in 2015 that the Arabs are going to the polls in buses. So it's been an attack on the Arab population of Israel, and Arab parties here, that has to some extent been used to drive voter turnout so it's not surprising we're seeing it again. It is an indication of just how important voter turnout is this time, and there were plenty of reasons to think it would be lower: voter apathy for one, a sense of the fact that this might not lead anywhere, with election polls predicting political deadlock, another, and perhaps Israelis are simply tired of this cycle of elections. And yet the exact opposite has happened. As you pointed out, voter turnout isn't only up, it's up big. At 6:00 p.m. -- so a few hours ago -- it was at 56.3 percent, a 2.8 percentage point increase over September's elections. Israelis care very much, and they're coming out to vote. The question, of course, is for whom. I will tell you that here at Likud Election Night headquarters, there is a sense of optimism. Netanyahu's campaign focused on voter turnout, saying that he needed 300,000 votes to be able to declare a victory, votes he says he lost between April and September, votes he was trying to bring back. There is a sense here that perhaps he has done it. Having failed to form a government twice, the longtime magician of Israeli politics, they believe, may be about to pull off his greatest trick. They're eagerly awaiting the exit polls, and then the results after that. They believe here that exit polls and election polls often underestimate Likud voters, and that's what they'll be looking to see here as they wait to see if Netanyahu has done it or if Israel may well be in store for more political deadlock or some other outcome. But it looks like it will be a very close vote, as we have suspected all along -- Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is at Likud Party headquarters. We are now joined by journalist Ronen Bergman, he's a correspondent for an Israeli daily here and a writer for "The New York Times," and author of "Rise and Kill First." Sir, what do you make of this high voter turnout, historic to a certain extent?</s>RONEN BERGMAN, CORRESPONDENT, YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Yes, the highest since 1999, Becky. And usually, traditionally, when more voters -- putting aside the Arabs, of course -- more voters coming to vote, more people coming to vote, it's usually a benefit for the right-wing parties. And the leaks -- as much as we trust them -- from the recent polls taken during the election days, as we get them, and now becoming viral on Israeli WhatsApp on the last two hours, are predicting a very, very, very close result for the right-wing bloc, very close to 60, very close to have a majority without Avigdor Lieberman. This means a triumphant victory -- if happens, triumphant victory for Benjamin Netanyahu that, as your correspondent said, just pulled up the biggest trick of his career. And this is the only question that now matters. It's not who is the biggest party, it's not if Likud wins the biggest number or Blue and White, it's as -- the only question is if Benjamin Netanyahu, the ultra-religious and the older right-wing parties have 60 or more seats in the cabinet. If not, then Blue and White are able to form a coalition with outside support of the Arab party. If yes, then we are talking about a very, very different Israel from tomorrow, because Benjamin Netanyahu is expecting --</s>ANDERSON: Which means -- which means --</s>BERGMAN: -- to continue its policy that would --</s>ANDERSON: -- sorry, if Benjamin Netanyahu is able to push this across the line, what's changed this time? And what would that mean for Israel, going forward?</s>BERGMAN: Benjamin Netanyahu is the reason why we are facing a third election in a year time. And the only reason why he was pulling this again and again was in order to gather a right-wing majority that would support him in changing a series of legislations in order to get the procedures in court against him stopped or detained or get him, in any case, off the hook in the three severe criminal charges. I remind everybody that on the 19 of March, he's expected to sit on the bench in the court in Jerusalem and hear the reading of the prosecution and the indictments against him. And if he is elected, if he's the next prime minister, then he would use this majority -- something that he could not do in a coalition government with the left wing or with the blue and white. He would use that in order to get the proceeding against him stopped or at least put on hold until the end of his term that, from his point of view -- if I read him correctly -- is the end of his life. I mean, he is going -- he wished to be the prime minister of Israel as much as he is alive. The other thing is, I think, that the right-wing parties have made a very clear distinction, a very clear call before the elections. They prefer to have Netanyahu not giving away any kind of territory, not agreeing to the two-state solution and preferring that,</s>ANDERSON: Very briefly, what role has Donald Trump and his Middle East peace plan -- or vision for peace -- played in these elections, do you think?</s>BERGMAN: The Donald Trump plan, the deal of the century, whatever they're called, is -- was aimed at achieving two targets. One, the primary target was to get Netanyahu elected and get him off the hook from the criminal charges. And the marginal case was to bring peace to the Middle East. At least on the first one, with no doubt, it helped Netanyahu a lot in the timing, just before the elections, and the ability of Netanyahu to identify himself, to tag himself as the super-stateman, the one who can recruit the United States of America and the president of the United States, to align completely, 100 percent, with the Israeli right-wing policy. And appease and satisfy a majority -- almost a majority, we'll see in the coming votes, but -- a significant chunk of the Israeli voters, were (ph) promising them that no Israeli will be evacuated from the -- from his land, which basically means no two-state solution, no end of the conflict and the continuation of the annexation. This is what -- this is how this was perceived, and Netanyahu was very, very successful into maneuvering, spin this plan, identifying him as the super-prime minister, the only one who is able to orchestrate such a plan.</s>ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us on what is an incredibly important night, here in Israel. And what happens in Israel, of course, doesn't stay in Israel. Remember, the polls close in just about 30 minutes. We will be standing by with the leading exit poll projections. Do join us for our special coverage, ahead. Until then, Christina, it's back to you.</s>MACFARLANE: Thanks very much, Becky. We look forward to that. Well, still to come tonight, a jump in numbers of people sickened by the new coronavirus in the U.S. over the weekend, but the top health official says don't panic.