My tar command works from the command line but not in a bash script

Question

I am trying to run a tar command from a bash script, but I can't seem to get it to work. In particular, I am trying to exclude some files/dirs from the tar command, but I get errors. When I run the single tar command from the command line, it works!

My script:

#!/bin/bash

EXCLUDE_ITEMS=("file2.txt" "dir1/dir2" "dir 4/file 5.txt")
LOGS="/home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/log.txt"
# Create the list of excluded files and directories
for item in "${EXCLUDE_ITEMS[@]}"
do
    EXCLUDE="$EXCLUDE --exclude=\"$item\""
done
# Remove the old log file
rm "$LOGS"
# Set up the destination dir
rm -r target_debbie
mkdir target_debbie
# Start the transfer
cd source_debbie
{
echo "starting in "; pwd
echo "tar vvcf - .${EXCLUDE} | (cd /home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/target_debbie; tar xpf -)"
tar vvcf - .${EXCLUDE} | pv | (cd /home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/target_debbie; tar xpf -)
} >>${LOGS} 2>>${LOGS}

The source tree that I am using for testing:

source_debbie/
├── dir1
│   └── dir2
│       └── file3.txt
├── dir3
│   └── file4.txt
├── dir 4
│   ├── file 4.txt
│   └── file 5.txt
├── file1.txt
└── file2.txt

The destination tree once I run my script:

target_debbie/
├── dir1
│   └── dir2
│       └── file3.txt
├── dir3
│   └── file4.txt
├── dir 4
│   ├── file 4.txt
│   └── file 5.txt
├── file1.txt
└── file2.txt

However, the following files/dirs should have been excluded: "file2.txt", "dir1/dir2", and "dir 4/file 5.txt".

The output of tar (ie my log file):

starting in 
/home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/source_debbie
tar vvcf - . --exclude="file2.txt" --exclude="dir1/dir2" --exclude="dir 4/file 5.txt" | (cd /home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/target_debbie; tar xpf -)
drwxrwxr-x mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./file2.txt
drwxrwxr-x mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir3/
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir3/file4.txt
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./file1.txt
drwxrwxr-x mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir 4/
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir 4/file 5.txt
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir 4/file 4.txt
drwxrwxr-x mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir1/
drwxrwxr-x mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir1/dir2/
-rw-rw-r-- mark/mark         0 2018-08-11 07:29 ./dir1/dir2/file3.txt
tar: 4/file: Cannot stat: No such file or directory
tar: 5.txt": Cannot stat: No such file or directory
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors

If I run this command alone from the command line:

tar vvcf - . --exclude="file2.txt" --exclude="dir1/dir2" --exclude="dir 4/file 5.txt" | (cd /home/mark/Personal/Mark/2018/Debbie/target_debbie; tar xpf -)

I get this output in target_debbie, which is correct:

target_debbie/
├── dir1
├── dir3
│   └── file4.txt
├── dir 4
│   └── file 4.txt
└── file1.txt

What am I missing in my script?

Thanks,

Mark