Elections viewed as referendum on Israel, Palestine relationship

JERUSALEM - Ariel Sharon was poised yesterday for a stunning political comeback, holding a 20-point lead in the polls over Prime Minister Ehud Barak on the eve of Israel's election - a vote seen as a referendum on Israel's relationship with the Palestinians.

Barak warned that Sharon would plunge Israel into war with its neighbors, but many voters - fatigued by the five-month Palestinian uprising against Israel - appeared either apathetic or swayed by Sharon's mantra of "peace with security."

Jerusalem travel agent Anat Azoulay, 27, said she would not vote Tuesday. "Barak is not good. We are not in a safe situation. Every day someone is killed," Azoulay said, adding, "Sharon, he will make war again."

Her friend Liat Sherf, 25, an Israeli living in a Jewish neighborhood in traditionally Arab east Jerusalem, said she backed Sharon because she fears Barak will give part of the city to the Palestinians. "He (Sharon) can save what is left. Jerusalem will not be separated," Sherf said.

Polls open at 7 a.m. today and close at 10 p.m., when both major TV stations are planning to announce projected results based on exit polls of a sample of 50,000 voters.