Mofaz accused of saying that Sheetrit quit Kadima race

Interior minister and Dichter stay in race, against all odds.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
sheetrit 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
sheetrit 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit's Kadima leadership campaign accused Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz of playing dirty politics on Monday for allegedly spreading rumors that Sheetrit had quit the race and endorsed him. When Sheetrit's campaign staff called party members loyal to him to remind them to vote in Wednesday's primary, they informed the callers that Mofaz's telemarketers had called them earlier and told them that they should support him because Sheetrit was no longer in the race. "Mofaz is playing a dirty game, bypassing the press and going directly to the members themselves," Sheetrit's campaign spokesman said. "He is spreading lies and rumors, perhaps out of the pressure that he feels because he is going to lose." The Mofaz campaign denied the report. "We don't spread rumors via telemarketers," a campaign spokeswoman said. "Don't give us that much credit. We aren't that smart." Sheetrit and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who are far behind Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Mofaz in the polls, have resisted tremendous pressure to quit the race. Livni and Mofaz want the primary to become a two-candidate race, because 40 percent of the vote is needed in order to avoid a runoff race between the top two finishers next week. Sources close to Sheetrit said he had even been offered the Foreign Ministry and Livni's title of vice prime minister, but that he still intended to remain in the race. Sheetrit called Livni's and Mofaz's hopes that he would quit "wishful thinking," and vowed that "the race will be Wednesday and there will be four candidates in it." "He is staying because he really believes he is more fitting than all the other candidates," a source close to Sheetrit said. "He will stay in the race, even if he is the only one who votes for him." Both Sheetrit and Dichter spent the day campaigning with full force. Dichter campaigned in Haifa and Tiberias and held a rally in Tel Aviv. His associates accused Sheetrit of exaggerating what he had been offered to quit. "No one has offered Avi to be foreign minister," a Dichter associate said. "Livni wouldn't do such a thing. And if Mofaz wanted to talk to Avi, they have enough of a good relationship that he can talk to him directly." Dichter vowed to remain in the race and prove the polls wrong. "My word is my word," Dichter said. "When I say I will run, I will run, and when I say I will surprise, I will surprise."