1. ISRAEL VOTES ON TUESDAY; EXIT POLLS TO BE RELEASED AT 3P.M. AMERICAN EASTERN TIME… The first indications of the choices the people of Israel are making at the polls on Tuesday will come at 10 p.m. local time (3 p.m. American eastern time) when the television networks release exit polling data. While observers expect the vote turnout to be the lowest ever, the predicted 66 percent turnout remains substantial by U.S. standards. Already, talk on the street has turned to coalition-building and speculation over what parties will join Olmert in what might end up one of the largest coalitions in Israel’s history.
2. PRISONER SNATCHED BY ISRAEL DENIES ISRAELI JURISDICTION DURING COURT APPEARANCE… Ahmad Sa’adat, the main target of the Israeli raid that snatched five prisoners from a Palestinian jail in Jericho, rejected Israeli jurisdiction during an appearance before a military court on Monday. On March 14, Israeli elite forces forcibly took Sa’adat and three other members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine jailed for their parts in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehav’am Zeevi in 2001. The Israelis also took a fifth prisoner: the man charged with funding the Karine A arms ship seized off of Gaza. Sa’adat refused to participate in the hearing called by his own lawyer to challenge the seizure and was removed from the court room.
3. PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO APPROVE HAMAS-LED LIST ON TUESDAY… The list of cabinet ministers for the Hamas-led Palestinian government is expected to be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council on Tuesday. The session opened with an explanation of the government program by incoming prime minister Isma’il Haniyya and will conclude with a vote of confidence. Hamas holds a strong majority in the PLC, so there is no question of the outcome. The new administration will take office on Wednesday. One of the few non-Hamas members in the cabinet — a Christian – will serve as tourism minister.
4. U.S. COOL TO HAMAS OVERTURE… On Monday, Hamas leader Isma’il Haniyya, the prime minister-designate of the Palestinian Authority, said he was “ready for dialogue” with the international community and Quartet in order to “strengthen stability and regional peace.” Some saw in the Haniyyan statement moderation and the possibility of a Hamas willingness to recognize Israel. But Haniyya’s words were met with a cool reception in Washington where the prevailing attitude is that it is up to Hamas to prove itself by action, not rhetoric.
5. AMERICAN EXPERT: ISRAELI POLLS UNRELIABLE… The online site of a leading Israeli newspaper quotes an American expert on polling as saying that Israeli polls are unreliable. Professor Kenneth Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, told Y-Net that the margin of error of the Israeli polls is too large to show an accurate picture. Goldstein said that media reports of one, two or three [parliamentary] seats being lost or gained are statistically insignificant and constitute “bad journalism.” He said in most Israeli reports there are no explanations of how pollsters translated their results into the projected number of seats.