>> it is 9:00 p.m. in paris. you're watching france 24. our top story at this hour. the polls have closed in israel. turn up down for the nation's fourth vote in just two years. our corspondent in jerusalem brings you exit polling. >> voting wrapping up in israel. an election the whole country

hopes will end two years of political gridlock. it is the fourth time at the polls for a national election in that time. turnout indicates citizens are tired of the cycle. since 2019, neither prime minister benjamin netanyahu or his opponents have been able to secure a majority in parliament. we will have a look at early indicators, exit polls in just a couple of minutes with our correspondent. first, our international affairs editor joins me on set for some analysis. it feels like this never ending cycle of elections in israel. is there a way out, or should they schedule? >> it is hard to say. the previous ones were supposed to end the deadlock, as you were hinting at, and they didn't. the polls are really not that clear cut this time. there was a sort of surge for

prime minister netanyahu, apparently off of the back of the successful coronavirus vaccination campaign, but it is hard to say whether that is actually a kind of lasting surge , or whether it is something temporary that would not have lasted into election day itself. certainly analysts are predicting possible deadlock. that's one of the scenarios, that neither the pro netanyahu block or the anti-netanyahu block end up being in a position to form a coalition. in israel, you have to form a coalition. it is almost impossible for one party to win in a landslide, because there is a system of strict proportional representation. so it is conceivable there could be deadlock and a fifth election.

definitely has not been ruled out. as to how we got to this world, there are different interpretations of why there has been this extreme volatility in the last two years. you can't blame the political system, because it has always been difficult to form stable coalitions in israel. they did not used to have this number of elections in such a short space of time. his critics are saying the reason for this is he has been guided purely by his personal interests, pushing israelis into more elections in order to avoid having to leave office and possibly face prosecution in these different sets of corruption cases. but i think to push back against that view, which is very black and white, and i'm not saying it is completely wrong, but it is

also true the coalition he had with benny gantz did notork. they did not get on. they could not make things work. they just had the series of bust ups. then the deadlock over the budget is what precipitated the call for the election that is happening now. >> he has managed to hold onto the premiership for a record amount of time, 12 consecutive years. this is despite a lot of challenges to his power, opponenttrying to take it. what is driving the strong survival instinct? >> the survival instinct has to do with the legal situation. in terms of how he deals with rivals, there is a pattern. you can see what he did to benny gantz is similar to what he did to --

>> i will interrupt you. i want to take us to our correspondent. she has a look at exit polling data. this is not official results, they are polls of voters taken immediately after they vote, but they can give us indicators. >> the indicator is after two years of instability, it looks like benjamin netanyahu can form a government of 61 and a parliament of 120. 61 is supertight. not ideal, but means can rule , if the exit poll is right, he can hold the government. he doesn't have to have endless negotiations, and others doesn't need to be -- there doesn't need to be a fifth election. i am looking at his party being

the largest party, and his block with a particularly right-wing group called the religious zionist party, they are in with six or seven, depending which one you look at. so it will be an altar right government. something israel has never seen. but i think that is where benjamin netanyahu will go and continue to be prime minister. that's what i'm saying from the very first look at the exit polls. >> if it is right, and he is able to form a coalition, what will that mean for ending the deadlock? how will they change their daily lives? >> it will end the deadlock, which means there won't be an election -- in some cases, it was even every four or five months. this has been the fourth election in two years,

incredible instability. there is an example of budget with huge implications for the country. still going on with a budget of 2018. anything that had to be updated from then isn't. it means more governments, if you can hold this election. >> reporting from jerusalem on these preliminary exit polling results that we are getting out of israel. i want to go for some more analysis of these results and the vote. want to welcome an associate fellow with the middle eastern north africa program at the think him -- think tank chatham health. when you look at these exit polls, what stands out to you, as far as israel's political blocks and where the support could go? >> we must remember they e exit polls. they are not always getting it

right. the margin of error can be slim. especially when talking of such minute differences between the blocks. this is one thing. it really depends. it is likely, if the figures are correct, because some parties are not completely completed. he is around 56 in his pocket that will go with him. but what will happen is a question. we can assume they might join a coalition. there are some small surprises. no doubt the representation is down because of the split down

to nine. this is going to change the block that tried to stop netanyahu from becoming prime minister again. but it is still quite open. also bear in mind, the votes of the soldiers, the diplomats, will be counted until frida when the margins look so small, it is exciting it is close, but we need to wait. >> does look like turnout was low. even lower than the last election. does that signal it would have helped certain candidates or parties? >> ihink it is definitely helping netanyahu. it is down about 5%. we think it will be decreased,

which -- it is understandable. in the three previous elections, if you look at the result, there were some changes, but between the blocks, it is marginal. i think the electorate is -- they sometimes forget it is the result of the way the voters vote. the reason for this is because the pattern of vote. but the voters in a way are fed up with themselves. they decided they don't want to go and vote, because it doesn't make a hug difrence. and they come to a conclusion that whatever we do, whatever we vote, we get the same results, which is regrettable in a democracy. >> i want to bring our international affairs editor in

with a question for you. >> thanks for that. just wondering what you think about what role ideology plays in the building of coalitions in israel. on one hand, we always hear benjamin netanyahu is not particularly ideological himself. he is interested in staying in power. but if you look at the previous right wing coalitions in israel, they have definitely had something in common and how they view the world and how they view society. would you say that the problem is they have not been able to unite around anything except not wanting netanyahu? >> i think you are right. i agree with you. but the pitical life doesn' care about ideolog however, the people that will

share t coalition, they do care. and when they look at the zionist religious party, it is a far right, homophobic, xenophobic party. it will potentially be part of this coalition. it is not a done deal, but they will have those ideological demands when it comes to legislation, to how much religion will play a part in israel life. israeli life. the extension of the settlements, may be on part of them. so this is going to play a part when you look at the other potential partners in the coalitn. they are very strict with their ideology. they are not exactly what they want ideology. but because netanyahu gave up on ideology to stay in power, and most important, try and delay

his corruption trial, he would be ready to give up anything, or give them whatever they want in order to stay in power and potentially out of jail. >> giving them anything they want, there is this far-right government, that it would be potentially a far-right government like israel has never seen. what would that mean for policy, citizens? >> i think if it is happening severely, democracy fails, they will legislate a bill to enable netanyahu to get off the hook when it comes to his corruption trial, which undermines the justice system. the second thing, many of these parties want to uermine the

legal system, the supreme court, because they don't like the idea that the supreme court is still the last best unit of human rights. they want a state based on religious law, they can do whatever they le and occupied territories, -- deploying of any human rights. so i think it is a slippery slope for early democracy. and for years of government, which we might not recognize is a democracy as it is already deteriorating. but as happened with benny gantz last year, some parties reduce this as an excuse. not to join the netanyahu government, they say i know we promised you not to join a netanyahu government, but we are

forced to do it to save the country from the far-right. so they will use it as an excuse to join the government. and it might leave himff the hook. but time will tell. >> you mentioned something important, the way he offers rivals the chance to come into government, and that is essentially what destroyed the credibility of benny gantz. do you think the same mistake will be repeated? will the tactic keep working? >> sometimes we have to judge by past experience. it works time and again. i can't always explain it logically. why he did it. instead of inflating a party of 33, 34, if you get three of the

seven. but it happens again. would happens to that -- it managed to split, and they went down. so is the master manipulator of israeli politics, and i have no reason to believe he won't managed to manipulate his opponents once again. they will be lud by positionin governments, some prestigious ministries, and go back to their voters and say if it is not for us, look what will happen. we will ignore it. look what we will get. and probably resorting to blaming the voters. if you wanted him, why did you ok for netanyahu and this is what we see again and again. going back to what you said earlier, there is a possibility

for a fifth election before long. >> just have to get out a little laugh. >> we will be covering that. >> we will continue to cover any elections. thanks to my colleague, really appreciate you both being here to unpack the exit polls. we will take you through more top stories from around the world. washington's top diplomat is on a charm offensive in europe. the secretary of state meeting with top nato and eu officials today and tomorrow as part of an effort to amend ties that were strained under former president trump. more on his pledge to rebuild and revitalize alliances >> if they welcome change -- secretary of state traveling to brussels to put his support for

nato on full display. >> i have come here to express the u.s.' steadfast commitment to that life, which has been the cornerstone of peace, prosperity, stability for the immuni for more than 70 years. >> i strongly welcome the biden administration's message on rebuilding alliances and strengthening nato. >> public pledges aside, antony blinken has a long list of issues to discuss with his transatlantic partners. high on the agenda, u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. the trump administration struck a deal with the taliban to leave by may 1. biden's team has yet to decide whether to that date. antony blinken is in brussels to consult with allies. >> we went in together, we adjusted together, and when the time is right, we will leave together. >> cooperation is key for the alliance as it faces external and internal challenges.

namely russia and china's growing threat, therefore ministers met this week. they accused the u.s. of interfering in other countries of theirs. within nato, there are other issues at hand. turkey's defense and foreign policy priorities are often on a divergin path to that of other members. last year, the russian missile defense system infuriating washington. washington's support for kurdish militants in syria is a thorn in their side. nato's budget remains a hot button issue. in 2020, 1 third of member states failed to reach the 2% of gdp targets. >> next up, a look at our top business stories of the day. for that, kate moody joins me. germany, like many countries, extending beefing up lockdown restrictions.

that sparked anger in the tourism industry. >> because there is confusion about what is and what is not allowed in germany. these measures restrict domestic travel, but don't close the borders or impose quarantine time after international travel. and really require a negative covid result for anyone entering the country. last weekend saw a stream of german tourists flooding to spain before the national restrictions were extended. it could not continue despite the lockdowns. german hotels and holiday apartments remain closed for tourists. germany storeroom is industry -- tourism industry warned thousands of job cuts. retailers non-essential to be closed since before christmas. take a listen.

>> jerome powell and janet yellen have been testifying to a u.s. congressional committee about the prospect of the u.s. economic recovery. both suggested the u.s. economy and labor force need more support to recover from the pandemic. janet yellen confirmed the administration is considering a hike of the corporate tax rate in part for a $3 trillion info structure bill being discussed by the administration and could be unveiled in the coming weeks. she also defended the recovery bill as necessary to protect the most vulnerable households. >> one in 10 homeowners with rtgage are behind on their payments. almost one in five renters are behind on their rent.

22 million people say they don't have enough food to eat. one in 10 adults are hungry in america. i looked at data like these and worried the economy was going to keep hurting millions of pple now and haunt them long after the health emergency was over. >> janet yellen in that testimony earlier. we will take a look at the trading action. a muted session on wall street saw stocks turning sharply lower in the last hour or so of trade. you can see losses of nearly 1% for the dow jones. three quarters of a percentage point for the s&p 500. investors not thrilled about the promise to tackle the u.s. corporate tax rate. that could affect companies listed on wall street. mostly lower close for the major european industries. frankfurt ending just above the flatline. astrazeneca shares dropped one

and three quarters percent in london. eu leaders are to meet later this week amid an escalating row over covid-19 vaccines. german chancellor angela merkel said she supports the threat to block exports of the astrazeneca vaccine, which are produced on european soil. european officials accused the swedish giant of prioritizing its contract with the u.k. while leaving them short. the eu stray chief acknowledged supply problems, but rejected accusations cracking down on exports would amount to vaccine nationalism. telling cnbc he was sure pharmaceutical companies honor their contracts. moving on to the other business headlines. that use competition regulator approved the 7.2 billion euro merger of optical farms. owns the ray-ban brand, and makes eyewear for luxury groups,

including chanel, party, and were such a. it will sell f-3 hundred 50 stores to complete the purchase of grand vision. sales of new homes in the u.s. plunged over 18% in february. commerce department said it was the slowest since may, at the height of the first pandemic restrictions. in part because of severe winter storms and high lumber costs. chile plans to make 5g networks available across most of the country within two years. it would put the country well ahead of its regional neighbors and government officials hope to attract amazon to buila new data center in chile rather than argentina. the next generation of mobile technology is slowly taking root across the globe. in france, the government is asking local officials to step up efforts to get more people to work from home. the official government guidance says workers who can should work remotely at least four days a week. but the power to enforce that are limited.

>> at this paris office, just a handful out of its dozens of employees are working on site. the rest are working from home. those who want to come in have to to make a reservation. as the government tightens coronavirus restrictions and employees are expected to work on site just one day per week maximum. but many can't. some don't even wanto. >> even before the latest lockdown, teleworking has been strongly encouraged. as of early march, one survey found just 13% of french employees were working from home full-time.

65% weren't working remotely at all. the government is now pushing local officials to crack down. but their authority is limited. >> over the past year, some 65,000 inspections have been carried out to check compliance with teleworking directives. just 55 formal warnings have been issued so far. no fines. the government says more inspections are now coming. particularly in the banking and insurance sectors. >> certainly encouraged, but hard to enforce. a lot of french workers and workers around the world saying working from home is taking a toll on mental health. >> doing it for almost a year or longer. kate moody. thank you. we will take a quick break. do stay with us. more news from around the world in a couple of minutes.

03/23/21 03/23/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the border is closed. we are expelling families. we are expelling single adults. we have made a decision that we will not expel young, vulnerable children. amy: the biden administration moves to close much of the southern border as it holds 15,000 unaccompanied migrant