Kadima's press conference, Monday
Photo: Ofer Amram
Ramon: Elections far from being decided
Kadima relaunches election campaign, expresses optimism despite public opinion polls predicting victory for Likud. Vice premier says '30% of public still undecided, this is unprecedented'
Despite public opinion polls, Kadima
members are confident they're about to win the elections: Two weeks before Election Day, the Kadima party relaunched its campaign Monday under the slogan, "Tzipi Livni
– A Different Kind of Prime Minister."
"Our experience says that the undecided voters come from the intelligent parts of the public, and these are people who do not walk with a ballot stuck to their forehead," said Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, who heads of Kadima's PR headquarters.
The heads of the party's election headquarters refused to be pessimistic despite recent public opinion polls predicting victory for the Likud.
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"The elections are between two candidates only, (Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi) Livni or (Likud Chairman) Benjamin Netanyahu," he added.
Sheetrit went on to warn that a Netanyahu-led government would harm Israel's peace efforts, as Livni said several days ago.
"No one believes a right-wing government will make peace, and we'll simply deteriorate," he said. "Kadima is the only party which can continue the peace process. I'm telling you, we're not far from a peace agreement with the Palestinians. It's really close. If someone else enters this process it will collapse."
Sheetrit called on Netanyahu to declare that he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, despite a decision made by the Likud's Central Committee in the past.
The minister also slammed the other candidates handling of the financial issue, saying that Labor Chairman Ehud Barak's desire to breach the budget limits and increase the deficit is irresponsible, as are Netanyahu's promises to reduce taxes directly from the public.
'Likud being arrogant'
Vice Premier Haim Ramon also feels that the elections have yet to be decided.
"Whoever is busy summarizing the election campaign is making a serious mistake. Thirty percent of the public are still undecided, and this is unprecedented. The Likud is being arrogant and the election campaign is far from being decided.
"These elections are saying that Tzipi Livni is the only one who can stop Bibi, and those who don’t focus on the battle between Tzipi Livni and Bibi are wasting energy."
The campaign managers, Reuven Adler and Eyal Arad, presented part of the election ads, some of which directly attack Netanyahu's reliability and others which try and present Livni as a person one can connect to.
"There's no pressure here, the pressure is elsewhere," said Arad. "We know what we're doing. The public is eager to hear what Livni has to say. Bibi fails to express his stances because he has been taken captive by his own party and by elements outside of it. He is trying to almost secretly slip into the Prime Minister's Office, but Bibi is afraid."
