Livni's call for party unity backfires

Mofaz supporters boycott faction meeting convened by new Kadima leader, protest "unity farce."

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
New Kadima leader Tzipi Livni made an effort to unify the ranks in Kadima behind her by convening the faction on Friday at the party's Petah Tikva headquarters, but the meeting was marred by boycotts and protests by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's camp in Kadima. Mofaz, who announced Thursday that he was quitting politics, refused Livni's request to meet with her and did not attend the meeting, which was also boycotted by Mofaz supporter MK Ze'ev Elkin. "This is not the proper time for a victory party or a fake display of unity," Elkin said. "There are many people who feel very uncomfortable with this false presentation of unity. There is no legitimacy to her victory unless the results of the race are properly checked. Until then, she hasn't brought the different kind of politics she promised." Another Mofaz supporter, MK David Tal, blamed the loss of the Iranian-born Mofaz on the prejudices of the Ashkenazi leadership and press. "The press does not want Sephardim to gain an important place in the country's leadership," Tal said. "The press, the Ashkenazi establishment and the whites joined forces to prevent Mofaz from having a chance. If they hadn't done that, the 400 votes she won by could have gone the other way, but they didn't want him to win." Other Mofaz supporters in the faction said it was up to Livni to reach out to him and to them if she wanted to unity the party. Kadima leadership candidates Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter and the rest of the Kadima faction united behind Livni's leadership and pledged to help her in every way possible. Livni told the faction that she was sorry about Mofaz's decisions to quit politics and not attend the meeting. She said that she had told him when he called to congratulate her on Thursday morning that she wanted to work together with him. "I still think Shaul Mofaz should continue to contribute to the government and I want to work together with him as a senior partner in the work of Kadima and I still hope to tell him this personally," Livni said. "I don't believe in camps, not in politics, not in the people of Israel and not in Kadima. There will be no camps in Kadima. Yesterday's competition ended yesterday." MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), unlike other MKs who backed Mofaz, pledged his support for Livni. "The decision was made, she was declared the victor and I have to respect it," Schneller said. "I spoke to her last night and I told her we all have to unite behind her."