Livni. The big winner?
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Mofaz. Different tone
Photo: Ofer Amram
Mofaz vows not to split Kadima
During Kadima Council meeting, party's No. 2 criticizes Chairwoman Livni, clarifying he has not given up on demand to move up primaries. Livni stresses she will not accept demand
Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz
(Kadima)
declared Wednesday that he has not given up his demand
to move up the primary elections in his party, but clarified that he won't work to split Kadima.
Speaking at a Kadima Council meeting in Petah Tikva, Mofaz said, "I believe the argument over who will get a renewed credit to lead the movement has not ended. I have offered a way of agreement and compromise and there will be no escape. I hear voices attempting to push members out of Kadima. Those are the same voices that associated me with Netanyahu's law about the desertion of seven members. This is not my way. I want to lead Kadima to victory in the next elections."
Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, on the other hand, reiterated that the primaries would only be held before the next Knesset elections.
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He went on to criticize Livni and her policy. "We are talking about an aggressive, inappropriate and wrong way of holding on to a set of rules. Those who hide behind sets of rules may bring about the destruction of the movement.
"Kadima has been caught in a crisis which is the result of mistakes made and lack of sufficient leadership in leading the opposition. The result of all this is a significant number of Knesset members who have held negotiations with three parties, leading to a very difficult rift inside the party. This cannot be ignored."
Livni addressed the rift in her party as well, and criticized Mofaz. "The faction's decision to reject Netanyahu's cynical offer should have ended this affair. Unfortunately, even afterwards there were those who continued to threaten and make demands. Kadima has sometimes fallen, accidentally, into the hands of its enemies and has begun eating itself from inside.
"I am not dealing with this issue for the sake of the future, in order to say that it's going to stop from now on. I will not lower myself, as I have not done up to now, to the small, petty political field. Kadima will elect its next leadership only before the next Knesset elections."
Government backed on heritage sites
Despite the harsh arguments between the two, Livni and Mofaz appeared to agree on the threats made by the Palestinians following the government's decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb in the list of national heritage sites slated to be renovated.
"We won't accept all the threats and intifada threats coming from the other side on such moments," Livni said. "These are moments in which, in spite of the (government's) worthless conduct which we are all paying for, one voice must emerge from Israel."
Mofaz rejected the violence threats as well. "The State of Israel allows all religions the freedom of ritual and can be proud of it. In an arrangement, Rachel's Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs will be heritage sites in Israel, and the Palestinians will not decide for us," he said.
