Kadima billing itself as party focused on security

In a last-ditch effort to pass the 2-percent electoral threshold and enter the next Knesset, Kadima unveiled a new strategy at a sparsely attended Tel Aviv press conference on Wednesday, rebranding itself as a party focused on security.

In its campaign advertisements, Kadima will highlight the military expertise of party chairman Shaul Mofaz and MKs Yisrael Hasson, Yohanan Plesner and Doron Avital. The party will call for equalizing the salaries of IDF soldiers, who make NIS 352 a month, with those of kollel students, who the party claims can make up to NIS 3,400 from governmental benefits.

“Until the burden of service is equalized, we can equalize the public funding and stop this humiliating situation,” said Plesner, who wrote two controversial reports over the past two years on how to draft yeshiva students.