Mofaz: Obama, PM should meet on Iran

At a Kadima pre-Rosh Hashana toast, opposition leader calls on party to unite and replace Netanyahu as Israel’s “only true centrist party.”

By LAHAV HARKOV
Shaul Mofaz at Kadima faction meeting 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
Shaul Mofaz at Kadima faction meeting 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should set personal differences aside and meet to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said at Kadima headquarters in Petah Tikva Thursday evening.
Mofaz recounted meeting with Obama two months ago and hearing the US president’s commitment to Israel and to stopping Iran.
“I believe Obama,” the opposition leader stated. “We need to face this threat together.”
Mofaz called for Obama and Netanyahu to meet and discuss Israel and America’s joint interests, because the countries will be more likely to meet their goals through cooperation.
The opposition leader spoke at a Kadima pre-Rosh Hashana toast, where he expressed hope that next year would be a better one for his party. The affair was modest in light of Kadima’s financial difficulties, which Mofaz pointed out, calling it “a homemade event.”
Nearly 200 people sat on plastic chairs around folding tables in front of the party’s headquarters, instead of in a rented hall, and ate pita, humous and sliced vegetables.
“Our mission this year is for Kadima to lead the country once again,” Mofaz said. “It will not be easy, but if we believe, we can do it.”
Mofaz called for Kadima to unite and replace Netanyahu as Israel’s “only true centrist party.”
This year, he stated, is a crucial one in economics, security and politics, because elections are set for next fall.
According to the Kadima leader, most Israelis want change, and will take sentiments expressed in social protests with them to the voting booth.
“We have passed difficult tests,” Kadima faction chairwoman Dalia Itzik said, “but we had no choice. We are the only alternative to the current government.”
Itzik pointed out the diverse crowd at the event; nearly half of the attendees were Arab or Druse.
She also referred to Kadima’s 28 MKs, of which 17 were present, saying that no other party had a list as experienced and responsible.
“We will be more united, more steadfast,” Itzik added.
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ronnie Bar-On shared Itzik’s optimism, saying “this year will certainly be better than the last.”