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Netanyahu Pitching Diplomatic Experience To Voters; Netanyahu And Gantz Face Off For Third Time In 11 Months; Indonesia Announces Novel Coronavirus Cases. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired March 02, 2020 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:22]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It is a spectacular sight, the portal of Jaffa Gate, doorway into the old city but right now Israel's

leaders trying to walk through a much, much narrow passage, the one to election victory. Hello and a very warm welcome to what is a rather crisp

night here in Jerusalem. I'm Becky Anderson for you.

Well, Benjamin Netanyahu weathering all manner of controversy in the hopes of continuing his run as the country's longest ever serving Prime Minister.

But Benny Gantz again seeking to unseat a man with this kind of deadlock, perhaps the best chance of seeing a breakthrough for either man will come

down to turnout. Election officials have just told us that turnout thus far is at its highest since 1999.

Netanyahu ran then to losing to Labour's Ehud Barak. So let's review how we got to where we are this being the third election in less than a year.

Netanyahu does remain the Prime Minister, but he serves in a caretaker capacity having failed twice to form a new government. And we should know

the first of those two failures was also the first in Israel's history. His own former army chief is the man hoping to outdo him, but Gantz was also

unable to reach a working majority after the last election in September.

Still a few things have changed since Israel last took the polls after years of investigations, Netanyahu was formally indicted in January in

three separate corruption cases. His trial is only a few weeks away now. The Prime Minister insists he is innocent of all charges. And even if he

was convicted, a lengthy appeals process would have to uphold that decision in order to force his resignation.

Oren Liebermann is at Netanyahu's Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv. And Oren, the Prime Minister hoping he gets enough of a boost today to avoid a

fourth election. Is that likely to happen?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, all of the election polls to this point and that's not just the last round, but all throughout

the entire three months campaign have suggested that Israel is in for more political deadlock. But of course, election polls are one thing and

Election Day is entirely a different thing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked very hard to keep the indictments you're talking about

away from center stage is been helped of course by coronavirus essentially being the biggest story in the world right now.

But he's tried to keep this focus where he wants it. And the focus for him on Election Day is bringing out 300,000 Likud voters that he says weren't

there between April and September. Do we have a hint as to whether that's campaign has succeeded? Perhaps a bit of one, as you pointed out, voter

turnout is up to 47 percent of a couple of hours ago. That's a 2.6, 2.7 percentage point jump from the elections in April -- September.

Numbers we haven't seen in more than 20 years. And that has to be something Netanyahu looks at and likes because it has been his campaign that has been

so focused on voter turnout. Of course, others have as well but Netanyahu has campaign on it. Holding events nightly, multiple events every night and

telling everyone that it's voter turnout that will win the election. He's continued that to this day, saying they're one seat away from forming the

government he wants.

On the other side meanwhile, we just got a message from Blue and White saying they have low voter turnout and their key cities, their key

constituencies, so their leaders will stay out in the field until close -- polls close at 10 to try to close that apparent gap. Although there are

certainly some questions about whether this is a psychological attempt to get more of their voters out, we shall see.

The one other question about voter turnout, of course is how much has Arab voter turnout gone up? The last round of election polls suggest that it was

going up enough to give them one or two extra seats. Those are votes against not only Netanyahu but also the Trump administration's plan for

Middle East peace. Those are the two trends we're keeping an eye on as we look at this voter turnout hitting numbers we haven't seen in decades.

ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating, isn't it? Mr. Netanyahu campaigning like his freedom depends on it, Oren, and it could of course he's facing trial in

two weeks' time on corruption charges. Now he is formally indicted after the last election. I spoke about this with the former mayor of Jerusalem

and Likud Party member Nir Barkat. This is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIIR BARKAT, ISRAEL KNISSET MEMBER, LIKUD PARTY: Prime Minister Netanyahu is innocent until proven guilty. And the last specifically says that he can

continue serving as prime minister while having his trial.

[11:05:05]

BARKAT: And so what I'm basically saying to my friends on the other side of the aisle is embrace the law. Remember the value that is innocent until

proven guilty. He's doing thousand things, now will do 1001. His ability to manage the State of Israel. He will be able to do that while his trial is

on. I'm not concerned about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Question is, Oren, do Israelis share that sentiment?

LIEBERMANN: Well, I think Israelis made up their minds about those investigations a long time ago. Those who supported Netanyahu have

supported him from the beginning and this is going back more than three years. The moment the investigations became public at the time they were

just examinations, Netanyahu began working to delegitimize them and in the eyes of his followers, it has largely work.

Haven't seen him take a hit in the polls at all because of the indictment and because of anything stage of this as it advance. Meanwhile, those who

didn't like Netanyahu simply saw another reason not to like him. The question is, of course, does Netanyahu have the 61 that he looks looking

for? Nir Barkat who we just heard from his right by the law, Netanyahu doesn't have to step down until he's convicted.

And that conviction is upheld through the appeals process, a process which could take months, if not years. But what the critics of Netanyahu have

said is that if he gets the 61 seats, his supporters here will make the argument that he has the public support, and they may try to advance some

sort of immunity law for him that would protect him from prosecution and the end from conviction.

Will we see that? Perhaps we'll have a chance to ask that same question here as we see the nice results going on, Becky.

ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is that Likud Party headquarters. Thank you, Oren. Well, Gantz's party is Blue and White party is a relative newcomer to

Israel's political scene, especially when compared to its well-established rival in Lukid. But despite coming up short last time, Gantz is hoping

another shot will put him in position to take the premiership (INAUDIBLE) is foreign affairs advisor to Blue and White and he's awaiting these

results at party headquarters in Tel Aviv.

We have heard that this turnout at this stage is the highest since 1999. Where's your team's confidence right now? Can you pull this off?

YAIR ZIVAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADVISER, BLUIE AND YELLOW PARTY: Well, turnouts high nationally, we're concerned a little bit about turnout in our

strongholds. And so we're working very hard to get all of our voters out all the people that want to see a different Israel tomorrow morning, a

better Israel tomorrow morning. We're working on getting them out to the voting stations and boosting voter turnout in our strongholds as well.

Something that's a little concerning with about four, 4-1/2 hours still to go.

ANDERSON: Gantz is at his slip ups along the way memorably including this gap, where he mistakenly told voters to avoid his own party Kahol Lavan in

Hebrew, have a listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENNY GANTZ, LEADER, BLUE AND WHITE PARTY: Go vote. Collect your friends, your neighbors on the way until the last minute don't give up. Don't put

Kahol Lavan in the ballot box. We're going to get to four elections. We need to finish with this. Go vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, obviously not sending the desired message there. But in all seriousness, are you concerned about voters reading into mistakes like

this?

ZIVAN: Well, Becky I think that's what we -- what you call it in America fake news, right? The video was edited by Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud

Team, one of the many lies and smears we've seen in this campaign unfortunately and edited in a way to make it look like he said something he

didn't say. What you just played now, the full video was the one where he said, if you don't go out to vote for Kahol Lavan for Blue and White, we'll

be going to a fourth election.

And unfortunately, that's the kind of dirty tricks we've seen in this campaign. And that's part of what we're fighting against. Benny Gantz is an

excellent candidate. Everybody that saw him in the last 48 hours has agreed that his interviews were better than Prime Minister Netanyahu's. And on

Channel 12 the main Israeli news channel, voters were asked who they trusted more in the two -- between the two after interviews they gave and

Benny Gantz was over 20 percent more trustworthy than Prime Minister Netanyahu.

So we're not worried. He's a great candidate, and we're sure he'll be a very good Prime Minister when we win.

ANDERSON: All right. Well, look so often we see Mr. Netanyahu being described as the sort of global statesman need certainly seem self like

that he's pitching himself as the best man to assert Israeli interests on the world stage because, quite frankly, he says he's been doing it for a

decade now. Many see that as a real advantage over Gantz. How do you think that plays out with voters today convincing or not?

ZIVAN: Well, I think it started off maybe as a convincing argument, but over the past year, we've seen Benny Gantz grow into a statesman. Yair

Lapod, his number two who's going to be the foreign minister in the Kahol Lavan-led government. Also has been touring the world meeting with world

leaders, President Trump and Benny Gantz had an excellent meeting in Washington.

[11:10:04]

ZIVAN: So we're not concerned about that at all. I don't think the Israeli public is either. I think they can see that Benny Gantz is growing into the

role and with Yair Lapid, his foreign minister, they'll make an excellent team in the world.

ANDERSON: Let me get one thing straight. Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Your

leader has said that he would do that. But within the context of international coordination, what does that mean? Should we see a Gantz-led

government going forward? Does that annexation happen or not?

ZIVAN: Well, if we see a Gantz-led government, a Blue and White-led government after this election, then we'll take President Trump's peace

plan, which we think is a very serious document and use it as a basis for negotiations. Use it as a basis to work towards solving the Israeli

Palestinian conflict and normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab world. We've said very clearly, any annexation, any change in the

sovereignty will happen as part of an international agreement. And that's what we'll be working towards.

ANDERSON: Yes. Zivan at Blue and White's headquarters. Thank you for that. My next guest. Gil Hoffman is the chief political correspondent and analyst

for the Jerusalem Post. Very recently, you landed an interview with the Israeli Prime Minister. That was the first interview, as I understand it,

that you say he'd done with non-right wing media. What did you get out of that?

GIL HOFFMAN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE JERUSALEM POST: I got the impression that Netanyahu would love it if Donald Trump will remain the

president of the United States but he is prepared to work with a Democrat as well in order to implement the plan. And as he told me that no matter

who wins the next election for president for United States, that plan will be moving forward, but it depends on him remaining Prime Minister of

Israel.

ANDERSON: How big a role has this Middle East peace plan played in these elections? I'm wondering whether it's played a role, for example, in

voters' minds, or whether it's all about, once again, providing some gift to Benjamin Netanyahu in providing this kind of statesman like figure.

HOFFMAN: It definitely paints Netanyahu is in another league as opposed to his competition. But it also paints this election as one that has to be

one, in order to get this plan implemented. That has been his message to the voters. And a lot of people are saying, you know, they don't know if

Donald Trump is going to remain the President of the United States. They need to take advantage of this time where they have Netanyahu and Trump

together in order to gain facts on the ground.

ANDERSON: What do you make of this voter turnout very high at this stage?

HOFFMAN: The weather wasn't good enough. If the weather was better, maybe people would have better things to do the vote. But I don't know, if people

realize that this is a very faithful election for Israel's history. And so turnout is up everywhere. Don't listen to the lies on either side. We just

heard Netanyahu lying in a Facebook live post saying that the turnout is down in his Likud bastions.

You just heard Yair Zivan, the spokesman for Blue and White saying turnout is down, in their areas. It's not true. It's up everywhere.

ANDERSON: Very briefly, a pretty pointed line from the Israeli President describing these elections today is --

HOFFMAN: Disgusting.

ANDERSON: Yes.

HOFFMAN: And he's the one who has to decide who forms the next government. And that shows he's not really willing to get into it and push them a --

but we all, he's speaking for the people of Israel. We all want this to be over for so many reasons. The only good thing about having elections in

Israelm Becky, is you keep coming back.

ANDERSON: Yes. Kill the Arab alliance in Israel known as the jointless says it expects to win some 16 seats. That would be enough to prevent Benjamin

Netanyahu from winning today's vote, they say. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMAD TIBI, LEADER, ARAB MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE: When we were 13 seats last time in September, we blocked Netanyahu from being a narrow government

prime minister, but if we will be 15 at least, definitely, Netanyahu will not be prime minister. And we -- then will decide jointless how to use this

political achievement in order to upgrade. The Arab minority, the Arab citizens and to push for a real and genuine political process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The Arab vote last time significantly higher than it was in the first election back in April. How crucial is it this time around?

HOFFMAN: Well, Benny Gantz can form a minority government if the right numbers arise from the election tonight. You can take his own political

allies, have the Arabs who don't want to join the government but are willing to support one from outside due to collective responsibility

facilitates the formation of that government that (INAUDIBLE) I also interviewed is speaking the truth that the higher the Arab turnout is the

easier it would be for them to get rid of Netanyahu. But it looks like the Jewish turnout its web to which would balance that up.

[11:15:02]

ANDERSON: In the end, is this once again an election about Benjamin Netanyahu?

HODDMAN: To Bibi or not to Bibi as the cliche that we've been hearing endlessly, and it remains very much true. He's going to become the winner,

Chancellor Merkel steps down, the longest serving Western leader. And if he did lose, then that would lead perhaps to other populist right wing leaders

losing around the world. And if he did win, and it's a sign for the election of the United States that Donald Trump is going to get reelected.

Boris Johnson just got reelected and the right-wing populist will continue their trend.

ANDERSON: Gil, we're going to leave it there for the time being. We thank you very much indeed for joining us. Your insight and analysis is always

extremely valuable. You've been working hard with this over the past year on these elections. All the signs of peace in Syria seem to grow more

distant. One man who used to work as a senior advisor there is now working to end the conflict over in the end.

He told me he thinks that is an easier job than the Syria fall. I sat down with Martin Griffiths in Amman and asked him what's next for Yemen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN GRIFFITHS, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN: I think there are two things that need to happen probably simultaneously. First of all,

recovering that calm that we've talked about in the war. Secondly, perhaps even more urgently, is the beginning of preparations for a launch of the

political process. And in that regard, we're waiting for the creation by the governor of Yemen, under the Riyadh agreement, as you know, one

mediated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of a new negotiating team on the back of the new cabinet.

So we are -- we're very interested to see progress towards that happen. And if that happens over the next month or two, we will be ready to call the

parties to sit down together to talk and finally to negotiate. And finally to launch that political process. I don't believe that political process

should be very long. I don't believe it should be lengthy. But I think it needs to start in the near future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the sooner the peace comes, the better. But just hours away from finding out who might be knocked out in Israeli politics, but in

America, the field of Democratic candidates just got a little bit smaller. We're going to take a look at who it's game over for, up next.

And global cases of the novel coronavirus are edging towards 90,000. Now, the world's fourth most populous country, Indonesia has confirmed its first

cases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:22]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. We are live from Jerusalem for you. Israel making sure every vote is counted in what is the third election in a year even

those under home quarantine for novel coronavirus. You see the special polling booth that's been set up basically a plastic bubble country has got

seven reported cases. For here in the Middle East to Asia to the Americas countries are enacting travel restrictions and an own screening procedures

at borders.

International travelers are being tested before they bought planes for the United States and when they land. Cases are popping up in several states

now, a second person has died in Washington State.

Indonesia has become one of the latest countries to announce its first case of the virus. You see the president making the announcement to 64-year-old

mother and her 31-year-old daughter had been in contact with a Japanese national who tested positive after leaving the country.

Well, South Korea has been particularly hard hit by the virus. As, you know, with more than 4000 cases and dozens of deaths. The country has had

to come up with some new and novel ways to detect and treat infections as Ivan Watson found out.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: South Korea has more diagnosed cases of Corona virus than any other country outside of mainland

China. We're going to take a look at an innovative technique that the country has come up with for expediting trying to detect coronavirus

infections. We're about to take a look at drive throughcoronavirus testing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Coronavirus cases in Korea jumped from 31 to more than 4200 in just the last two weeks. Fans, thank you very much. Now, here's the thing about

what this city is doing. It's offering free coronavirus testing to anybody who comes here. You don't even have to be a citizen or resident of this

City of Goyang.

Temperature. I'm instructed to stay in the car the whole time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, OK.

WATSON: I fill out a questionnaire to see whether I have any symptoms or if I'm in a higher risk category of people who have visited the City of Daegu,

where more than 70 percent of Korea's coronavirus cases have been diagnosed.

This is a tough job that the nurses have and a volunteer doctor. They do five hours shifts. They can't go to the bathroom. They can't drink water.

And as one of them told me it's cold here.

Korea has tested more than 100,000 people since the outbreak began. This drive-through site contest more than 380 people a day.

And now we're going to do the coronavirus test. Oh, OK. Oh, that's really uncomfortable. OK. I finished the test. I do have to confess that they

really have to stick the swab very far up your nose which is pretty uncomfortable but it's over in seconds. It'll be two to three days before I

get the test results. I spoke with a doctor at a Coronavirus Crisis Center and he says that one of the best lessons that Korea has to offer other

countries that are just beginning to deal with coronavirus are these drive- through test sites.

Because the authorities say you can process more people quicker and it limits the exposure of the medical professionals themselves to patients who

could be carrying the disease. Ivan Watson, CNN, in Goyang, South Korea.

ANDERSON: And more developments from this region just into CNN, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died after getting

infected with the coronavirus. That is according to State Radio. And we're also just learning that America has canceled a major military exercise with

Israel, one of its closest military allies, of course due to the virus. Washington insists it's only doing it out of an abundance of caution.

Well, we are live in Israel for you where the first exit poll results and what is an unprecedented general election will be released about four

hours' time. We're here for that and back in the United States Democratic candidates counting down the hours until Super Tuesday primary races in

what is 14 states and the American summer, the campaign field is narrowing after Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:25:17]

PETE BUTIGIEG, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I urge everyone who supported me to continue in the costs of ensuring that we bring change

to the White House and working to win the absolutely critical down ballot races playing out across the country this year. There is simply too much at

stake to retreat to the sidelines at a time like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Oh, he is worrying whether to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden, but it's not clear whether that will happen before Super Tuesday. It

is of course Monday today. Stay with CNN for special coverage of those contests. The Super Tuesday contest. We'll have a team of correspondents

across key states to bring you in-depth coverage all day long as you would expect from us here on CNN. Best in the business.

Coming up. Israel's Prime Minister has made annexing West Bank settlements, his election promise, but is that enough to secure him votes? I'm going to

speak to people living in those settlements to get their take.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, if only those walls could talk. Just a few more hours before the poles close here in Jerusalem.

[11:30:02]

ANDERSON: The big question, will Benjamin Netanyahu get enough votes to form a governing coalition this time around the Prime Minister counting on

the residents of Jewish settlements to help secure his victory, putting the annexation issue front and center in his campaign. Well, I went to one of

Israel's largest settlement blocks to see just how critical this election is for people living there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Almost a year into the Israeli election stalemate, people in Efrat are anxious for the political fog to clear and with it, they hope, a

profound change in their status. It may not be obvious when you look around nice houses, good services, but these buildings on this land have been

among some of the world's most controversial real estate since they went up. International law says that they are illegal built on occupied

Palestinian territory.

But to the 10,000 settlers who live here, they say this is their rightful home. That's the disparity Efrat's longtime mare is well aware of.

ODED REVIVI, MAYOR OF EFRAT: So Efrat is over the green line and --

ANDERSON: Which means what?

REVIVI: Which means that some of your viewers might call it the disputed territories. We prefer to call it Judea and Samaria. And -- but it means

that there is a lot of political implication to the results of the elections. But we know that under specific government, we have a specific

administration, things can go very bad for the communities here. And on the other hand, we have a specific government and a specific administration.

Things can take a complete different terms.

ANDERSON: Settlers make up less than five percent of the population, but their vote is critical for Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection. Well, people

here admire the Prime Minister. Many want him to be bolder. That's why a majority will be voting for Yamina a hardline right wing party whose

success could be key to the Likud's ability to form a governing coalition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like Bibi, I like the Likuds. But I think that it needs other parties to keep Likud on the right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And I Bibi is the only one who can lead this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last 10 years, the country is better in every respect. So why change something that's good and he has a great

relationship with our President Trump who's a terrific president also.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides. A realistic two-state solution that resolves

the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel's security.

ANDERSON: Efrat is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank, but all of them big and small have been earmarked for annexation by Israel as part

of Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan. Mayor Revivi attended the plans announcement in Washington.

REVIVI: Reality is changing. The deal of the century, whether it will work or not, as far as I'm concerned, for the first time, it actually looks at

reality head on, and it actually sees where people live and tries to draw maps according to the reality that has changed throughout the years where

the Palestinian people have refused any sort of compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Netanyahu has spoken about a window of opportunity to get annexation done, widely seen as meaning before the U.S. presidential

election in November. So his part, Gantz has said he supports the plan. These stress the need for international coordination. While it is unclear

what the upshot of this latest Israeli election will be, what is clear is that places like this, continue to build for the future.

Well, that's the story from a friend. Let's remember on the other side of the hill from the settlement, there are thousands of Palestinians who don't

have a say in what happens in today's election. Now CNN has been speaking to the same Palestinian man for 40 years. I visited him on the eve of this

vote to get his take on how things have changed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: 1981, a barbed wire fence box what will become the new settlement of Efrat. It was here, CNN first met Hussein Salah.

HUSSEIN SALAH, PALESTINIAN DISPLACED BY ISRAELI SETTLEMENT: Purpose of the fence is to surround the land and to avoid to prevent us to go to our lands

to take our grapes and to work in our lands.

ANDERSON: 13 years later, in 1994, a year after the Oslo Accords, the Jewish settlement was expanding, leading to tens clashes between

Palestinians and the Israeli army.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By force they tried to push us away from our land.

ANDERSON: By 2007 unable to harvest his grapes, Hussein opened a mirror shop.

[11:35:04]

ANDERSON: But with ongoing peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, his dreams of his family returned home was still alive.

SALAH: Didn't take back my land, I am son and he will take it down.

ANDERSON: Now in 2020 and after Mr. Trump's Middle East peace plan, that hope no longer exists.

SALAH: You see, the houses of the settlements are here, the wall of the -- from the other sides, where we can build houses for our kids in the future.

No land remained. They take all the land.

ANDERSON: This is your grandson or one of your grand --

SALAH: He is one of 23 of my grandkids and sons. So really I am -- my metaphor for the future.

ANDERSON: What's your message to the politicians here in Israel and people around the world?

SALAH: My first letter is to Mr. Trump (INAUDIBLE) you did all this. You gave them everything, you give them Jerusalem, you gave them the West Bank

account, gave them the Jordan Valley. Nothing remained for us. Everything gone. Nothing remained for us for that there was a hope but now there is no

hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: An issue that couldn't be more important for neighboring Jordan is its relations with Israel. Palestinian grievances are Jordan's issues.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley if he were reelected. The move his neighbors in

Jordan strongly oppose. I spoke with the Jordanian Prime Minister and asked him if this were to happen. What is at stake here is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR RAZZAZ, JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER: As a parent, as a father, somebody who is concerned about -- well, we have not been able to achieve peace so

far. But what about future generations? What about my children and their children? What's at stake is these unilateral actions that change facts on

the ground that cuts -- cut up planned in a very -- in ways such a becomes impossible to unite them into a homogeneous territorial land.

Will make peace impossible for the future generations. Are we really do we know what we're doing? Creating impossibilities to -- for Palestinians to

ever realize their aspirations and creating on the Israeli side, a state that looks very much like an apartheid state. And I mean it, that's what's

at stake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The view of the Jordanian Prime Minister. Well, voters here in Israel are heading to the polls in droves. We speak to an Israeli activist

about the high stakes election meant to end this country's political gridlock. That is after this short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:32]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARMEL FELLER, CANVASSING DIRECTOR, DARKENU: OK. And with a civic organization.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

FELLER: We're not affiliated with any party, we're not sending people who to vote for. And who not to vote for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Are you going to vote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great, good night.

FELLER: We're going around the country, knocking on people's doors, encouraging people to take responsibility over their own lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Because it's a very potent for our country. And they -- I love very much my country and they go to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, voter turnout is at a 20-year high as things stand. Standing at 27 -- sorry, at 47 percent at last count. And we've got just a

number of hours to go in this Israeli election. My next guest James Feder is behind some of those big numbers that we are seeing or certainly he will

say as he's the digital communications coordinator for Darkenu which is the largest nonpartisan civil society movement in Israel trying to get out the

vote, the group that we just saw out there, you will be delighted.

We've got what, four or less than four hours to go until the polls close and we are at voter turnout which is remarkably high. What have you been

doing to get people out to vote?

JAMES FEDER, DARKENU ENGLISH DIGITAL COORDINATOR: Yes. I think so the first issue is voter turnout. We knew from the onset this was going to be the

main issue. We've had voters that have been asked to return to the ballot boxes three times in 11 months, looking at situations like this around the

world. There's a -- it's a phenomenon known as voter fatigue, we expected participation to debt.

And so from the beginning, we got to work. We're the largest grassroots movement of our kind. So what we've done is we've sort of taken a two

pronged effort. On the one hand, we're doing posters and we have posters going up in --

ANDERSON: Let me see. Tell me about it.

FEDER: Posters going up in kindergartens, encouraging parents to take their students -- their children with them to the polling stations to show them

how democracy works. We also are, of course, in the midst of a very serious health crisis. There are currently thousands of Israelis in quarantine. And

where -- this message is that voter apathy and indifference. That's also a disease.

ANDERSON: Yes.

FEDER: And so what I think -- what's really remarkable is that despite what we expected, people are getting out the vote.

ANDERSON: The criticism of your group is that -- while you sell yourselves as a sort of nonpartisan group, that's actually not correct. Do you -- do

you accept that criticism?

FEDER: I respectfully do not. I think, you know, we are really a movement that doesn't have much parallel in society. We spent four years working to

build bridges between the various camps in the various sectors within Israeli society.

ANDERSON: Does it bother you that Benjamin Netanyahu is banking on getting people out to vote? He believes it will help him push himself past the

post. Does it work?

FEDER: Right. I mean, I think what we're seeing is already people are frustrated with the political system, they're losing faith. And no matter

what the worst situation would be a low voter turnout, resulting in a government that's not representative of the people. And so no matter the

results, we want to see people vote.

ANDERSON: So what are people voting on? Very briefly, what are the issues that the pressure point issues here in Israel here today?

FEDER: Well, I think it's probably surprising for an international audience considering Trump peace plan and regional dynamics is Israeli voters are

really voting about their daily lives. And so it's about the cost of living, about the housing crisis. It's about the healthcare system, the

education system. It's also about very real security for people in the south. You know, just last week, people around Gaza schools were closed,

people who were in bomb shelters.

And the issue is for more than a year, we've not had a functioning government. We've had a character government that can't take the type of

action we need.

ANDERSON: So it doesn't bother you you're telling me who wins this election to be, you know, a result at this point. It's just the fact that you've got

people out to vote, correct?

FEDER: Exactly.

ANDERSON: Thank you, sir.

FEDER: Thank you.

ANDERSON: This is CNN. We'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:49:40]

ANDERSON: Well, Jerusalem sure knows a thing or two about walls. The politicians here are spending all their time building bridges trying to

reach out to the remote islands of Israeli politics to finally pull off a victory. My next guest here on our special edition of CONNECT THE WORLD

said at the last election back in September that left wing voters should avoid Benny Gantz's Blue and White aligns going as far as calling it a

temporary party which will disappear.

[11:50:10]

ANDERSON: Well he's the former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and Secretary General of the Israeli Labour Party, Hilik Bar joining us now. He's still

around that Blue and White Party. So, have your views changed, sir?

HILIK BAR, FORMER DEPUTY SPEAKER, KNESSET: No, I didn't. I'm a liberate and I believe in the Labour Party. One of the problems that I have with the

Blue and White Party is that their main ideology is just to replace Bibi which is OK for me. But Labour Party has represented Social Democrats

economy, they're trying to reach peace with the Palestinian, the peace flags was almost disappeared in the last election. So I think the Labour

Party is still a very, very important party.

ANDERSON: An elite recording released on Israeli channel 12. And aide to Mr. Netanyahu was heard talking about the Prime Minister's campaign

strategy saying hate is what unites our camps and the Israeli President today calling this election a horrible, filthy election campaign. Do you

think this is affected poling?

BAR: Yes. I think that the President of Israel was definitely right we see an escalation of the hatred or the incitement between the parties, between

Benjamin Netanyahu to Benny Gantz to Amir Peretz and other. Between Arab and Jews. So one of the things that made the Arab go and vote is actually

the incitement there is against them in the extreme right wing in Israel.

ANDERSON: How important is that Arab vote this time around?

BAR: Very important because if they will bring 16 seats, which right now they have 13, it may change the picture, they will be able to create a

block against the ultra right-wing government and this is something that is dramatic.

ANDERSON: Turnout is high at this point 3-1/2 hours to go, which means what as far as you observed?

BAR: Well, we can exact -- we cannot exactly know because what happened now, I think that both the left and the right is going to vote in higher

numbers. The right wing understood that Bibi Netanyahu couldn't afford a government in the last two elections because they didn't go to vote enough,

but we understand in the left that Netanyahu is actually beatable. And there is a little effort that we need to do in order to actually replace

him. What look impossible just a couple of things ago.

ANDERSON: What happened to the left though in Israeli politics, sir?

BAR: If you ask me, you know, I lead for seven years in two-state solution Congress in the Knesset, I think that the left forgot this flag. And when

the left forgot the piece like the conflict resolution, and left to the right wing, to manage the conflict, rather to actually try and solve it. We

lost a lot of our power in our republic right now. I think that there is a little more discussion about the peace process but the peace process is

lacking in this election and it's a big, big minus to our --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Voters are out there voting again today. Nobody I've spoken to once a fourth election here. Everybody wants some finality. Should that be

a Netanyahu-run government going forward? What will that mean for Israel's feature?

BAR: For the first time I think it will be -- personally I think it will be terrible because we have an excitement, hatred between Jews and Jews in

Israel, Jews and Arabs in Israel. We have no peace process. Our economy was damaged after three elections, our budget is frozen. I think that another

Netanyahu government will be bad for Israel. And this is why we're trying to block you.

ANDERSON: Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

BAR: Thank you so much.

ANDERSON: And what is an important day. Well, you know, elections aren't often exactly riveting stuff, but in Israeli election is actually a pretty

good time to be here. There's free time you get the day off if you're an Israeli, free transport, zero charge on the bus, the tram the light and

free ice cream. What do you know? So in the trusted spirit of investigative journalism, I went out to get the scoop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

ANDERSON: There is a saying in Hebrew that goes pa'am shlishit glida which means that third time ice cream. And it is Ben and Jerry's Factory Shop

customers are being offered an election scoop.

I'll have a one sweet vote, please. The idea may be sweet, a little light relief for Israelis tired of being asked to get out and vote for a third

time. Fantastic. Thank you. Can I join you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

ANDERSON: I've got my one-time sweet bread. You voted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First thing on the morning.

ANDERSON: And you hope this will be the last time this year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I truly hope so. Definitely.

ANDERSON: Three times.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I feel that's for the next four years. This is -- this should be the last time.

ANDERSON: Are you convinced it will be though?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ANDERSON: Or is there a fourth time in there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, no, no, I'm really convinced it is.

ANDERSON: But with polls suggesting a race to close to cool. The idea that this election could provide any finality is -- well, melting away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:55:05]

ANDERSON: Well, there is no chance of me melting out here let me tell you. This is getting freezing here in Jerusalem at permafrost seems to be well

and truly in the polls. They are pretty much frozen solid third time around but which politicians brilliant burning pitch will finally throw out the

impersonate someone form a government.

Well, that is TBD. We will be here for it right here on CNN. A lot more from us in the hours to come on into the wee hours of the morning as we get

you the result in the Israeli election if indeed there is one.

That was CONNECT THE WORLD and see you in the hours to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END