An election for the leadership of
Kadima
Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...
was held on 27 March 2012, pitting
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer.
A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...
against
Shaul Mofaz
Shaul Mofaz (; 4 November 1948) is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and Operati ...
.
Mofaz won with 62% of the vote.
Background
In November 2011, the three candidates opposed to
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer.
A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...
in 2008 called for a primary to be held as soon as possible, citing the probability of Knesset elections soon. Livni said that candidates were welcome to bring up the issue at a party meeting. Livni said in an interview that she was not interested in politics. Prior opponent
Avi Dichter responded that her statement was insulting to party members. Another Kadima MK called the remarks "the opposite of prime ministerial." Livni said that candidates were welcome to bring up the issue at a party meeting. However, at the meeting Livni maneuvered to delay the primary for several months.
Finally, on 19 January 2012, Livni set the primary date for 27 March 2012. A
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
article stated that the campaign will likely involve
mudslinging and personal attacks that could further damage the party's standing.
Campaign
At a campaign rally, Livni was confident and said that Kadima under her leadership was best poised to defeat the incumbent
Likud
Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
under
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
. Mofaz countered that Livni was weak and he would be better able to oppose
Moshe Feiglin's influence in Knesset. Dichter said that Livni has harmed the party and a new leader is needed.
An 18 January Maagar poll supported Livni's claim with Kadima winning four more seats under Livni than Mofaz. However, neither could take the party to victory.
Former prime minister and Kadima leader
Ehud Olmert declined to endorse any candidate.
At a press conference, Mofaz said his first priority will be to ensure there is "one law for everyone". He lowered his criticism of his opponent and said he would offer her a position if he was prime minister. Citing his four decades of military service and participation in four wars, he said that he would "make the utmost effort to achieve peace with
srael'sneighbors". He also said that non-participation in the military service was a growing problem and that Israel must reform its system of governance. Previously in support of unity, Mofaz declined to join a Netanyahu government. He was confident that he could change the course of Kadima and take it to victory.
Livni picked up the endorsements of 12 MKs and two party functionaries, while Mofaz received endorsements of 10 MKs. At meeting to support Mofaz, one MK said that Mofaz is "a new candidate who can bring new audiences" and compared him to new
Labor Party leader
Shelly Yachimovich, who gained the national polls once she had settled in as party leader. Both candidates have significant support, leading to some speculation that the party may split after the primary. However, Livni backers were confident that she will win and mocked the support for Mofaz as "
oingshopping". They also claimed that a vote for Mofaz is a vote for a split.
Livni reiterated this claim in an interview with Haaretz and admitted mistakes with handling the party several years ago.
Mofaz supporters accused Livni of encouraging
Bat Yam
Bat Yam ( ) is a city on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In , it had a population of .
History
British Mandate
Bat Y ...
mayor
Shlomo Lahiani to join the race in order to split the
Sefardi vote. Livni denied the accusation. Lahiani said his family did not want him to run, but he wanted to change the priorities of Israel. He was confident that he could beat Mofaz and Livni, and even take Kadima to victory over Likud.
However, Lahiani ultimately decided not to run.
Originally rejecting calls for him to withdraw from the race, Dichter dropped out five days prior to the primary, and endorsed Mofaz.
Candidates
;Declared
*
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer.
A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...
, party leader
*
Shaul Mofaz
Shaul Mofaz (; 4 November 1948) is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and Operati ...
, former
Chief of Staff of the IDF
;Declined or Withdrawn
*
Avi Dichter, former
Internal Security Minister
*
Shlomo Lahiani, mayor of Bat Yam
*
Meir Sheetrit, former
Minister of the Interior
Polling
Endorsements
;Members of Knesset (12 of 28)
*
Nino Abesadze
*
Rachel Adatto
*
Doron Avital
*
Roni Bar-On
Roni Bar-On (; born 2 June 1948) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and Kadima between 2003 and 2011, and is also a former Finance Minister of Israel, Minister of Finance.
Biography
Bar-On was bo ...
*
Gideon Ezra
*
Yoel Hasson
*
Shlomo Molla
*
Nachman Shai
*
Marina Solodkin
*
Robert Tiviaev
*
Majalli Wahabi
*
Orit Zuaretz
;Kadima leaders
*
Tzachi Hanegbi, party affairs committee head and former Member of Knesset
*
Haim Ramon, Kadima council chair and former Member of Knesset
;Members of Knesset (11 of 28)
*
Ruhama Avraham
*
Aryeh Bibi
*
Ze'ev Bielski
*
Avi Dichter, withdrawn candidate
*
Avi Duan
*
Yisrael Hasson
*
Shai Hermesh
*
Yohanan Plesner (formerly for Livni)
*
Ronit Tirosh
*
Otniel Schneller
*
Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich
Results
Polls closed at 22:00, but results were not in until 01:00 the next day. Mofaz defeated Livni 62.3% to 37.7%, but invited her to remain in the party in his victory speech. Livni called Mofaz to congratulate him and thanked her supporters in a concession speech.
Likud
Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
MK
Ofir Akunis wished Mofaz a long career as opposition leader and said Kadima was "at the end of its journey". Fellow Likud MK
Danny Danon criticized the "left-wing" views of Mofaz, such as his plan to return the borders of Israel to the
Green Line.
Meretz leader
Zehava Gal-On also congratulated Mofaz, but said his victory proves Kadima is a "centre-right" party.
Labor leader
Shelly Yachimovich also congratulated Mofaz, said he was worthy of the job, and said Labor was the only true opposition party.
United Torah Judaism MK
Moshe Gafni blamed Livni's loss on her criticism of
Haredi Jews, while
National Union MK
Michael Ben-Ari said Mofaz can credit his victory to Arab voters and that he was now indebted to them.
See also
*
2008 Kadima leadership election
*
2012 Likud leadership election
References
{{Political party leadership elections in Israel
Kadima leadership
February 2012 in Asia
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
Kadima leadership election
Tzipi Livni