Sheetrit backs Mofaz, blames Livni for Kadima’s decline

“We have to give someone else a chance and make a change,” Kadima MK says at a press conference in the Knesset.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Meir Sheetrit (photo credit: Miiam Alster)
Meir Sheetrit
(photo credit: Miiam Alster)
MK Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) threw his support behind leadership candidate Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday, saying that party leader Tzipi Livni is responsible for Kadima’s expected drop in Knesset seats.
The veteran politician said that Livni deserves credit for getting Kadima 28 seats in the last elections, but that she was unable to form a government, and that the party continues to drop in the polls. A recent poll showed the Knesset’s largest party receiving only 12 seats after the next election.
One of the reasons for Kadima’s decline is Livni’s indecision on major issues, according to Sheetrit.
“We have to give someone else a chance and make a change,” he said at a press conference in the Knesset.
“The only alternative with a chance of winning and making a change is Shaul Mofaz. Without that change, Kadima will not reach its goals in the next elections.”
If Kadima chooses Mofaz in its March 27 primary, and “acts according to our principles,” the party will win the next election, Sheetrit said.
He explained that Mofaz’s experience as defense minister and IDF chief of staff will make him a formidable opponent to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
“Kadima needs to fight politically, or we will disappear, like Shinui,” he added.
Sheetrit insisted that neither Mofaz nor Livni promised him a position should they win, in order to convince him to take a side.
The MK also called for Livni not to quit should Mofaz win, as she has promised.
Following the press conference, Livni’s office said that she will win Kadima’s leadership once again, and the party will regain the public’s faith as an alternative to the Netanyahu government.
Also on Monday, Prof. Yossi Shain, chairman of diplomacy studies at Tel Aviv University, announced that he is joining Kadima, supports Livni and has not ruled out running with Kadima for the next Knesset.


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