Bar-On endorses Livni for Kadima chair
Finance minister expresses his regret over PM Olmert's decision not to stand for Kadima primary, says foreign minister only candidate with whom party can continue ruling Israel
"Had Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered himself as a candidate, I would have supported him," Bar-On said in press conference in Tel Aviv.
The finance minister reiterated his support for the prime minister and expressed his disappointment over the fact that Olmert decided not to stand for the primaries.
"Since he decided not to do so, the time has come to make a decision. I am a person who perceived his public role and political duty as expressing views and making decisions. We are not paid to sit on the fence and to abstain," he said.
"The four candidates (Ministers Livni, Shaul Mofaz, Avi Dichter and Meir Sheetrit) are all worthy," Bar-On stressed. "The person elected by Kadima will be the next prime minister… Thus it is important that the choice will guarantee that Kadima will be the next ruling party and form the next government.
"All this leads me to elect the prime minister's stand-in, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, as the person who I will support for the Kadima chairmanship and premiership."
The finance minister praised his fellow government member, ruling that "she has a lot of political experience. She made an impressive political way in the Knesset and has been in charge of a significant number of ministries. In the past three years she has been at the heart of Israel's decision making, in the diplomatic and security fields.
"In my opinion she is worthy and qualified for the role, an experienced person, and particularly one who can lead what the Israeli society – both the political and public society – needs most of all: A kind of internal reconciliation, a kind of consensus, a kind of broad agreement as much as possible," he added.
Dichter: I'm not alone
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter referred Thursday to Bar-On’s endorsement of Livni, saying that even though it seems that he is running alone, “there are a lot of people running, working and supporting me.”
Dichter added that there were five weeks left until the Kadima primary and that “additional surprises are to be expected.” He made this announcement at the scholarship distribution ceremony for Druze students at Haifa University.
Dichter also said that one must differentiate between releasing Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian Authority, which is a negotiating partner, and releasing prisoners as part of the talks with Hamas, which is an adversary.
"We can offer the Palestinian Authority gestures which may prove beneficiary in the future," he said.
Ahiya Raved contributed to this report
