Livni backers say Mofaz supporters threatened them

MKs, who asked not to be identified, said they were surprised by how many threats they had received since they endorsed Livni.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Shaul Mofaz 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS)
Shaul Mofaz 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Key Kadima activists who support Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Shaul Mofaz in the March 27 party leadership race have called MKs who back incumbent Tzipi Livni and warned them that they will not be in the next Knesset, the MKs said Sunday.
The MKs, who asked not to be identified, said they were surprised by how many threats they had received since they endorsed Livni.
“There are members who have told me they won’t support me like they did last time,” one Kadima MK said.
“It’s uncomfortable, but you have to be tough. I am just worried that this rift in the party will destroy Kadima from inside.”
The MK said he had heard from multiple Livni backers in the faction that they had received such threats, but he was unaware of a single MK who supports Mofaz who has been similarly threatened by party activists.
MK Shai Hermesh, who supports Mofaz, responded that although he had not received threats from party activists, he had been threatened very clearly by Livni herself.
He noted that while Mofaz has said he will embrace the entire faction after the primary, Livni has said she would be loyal only to MKs who were loyal to her.
“She told me that she is done being statesmanlike and whoever is against her is against her,” Hermesh said.
“That to me was a clear message that if she wins, she is sending me back to work in my barn on Kibbutz Kfar Aza.”
Asked about the threats from activists, he said, “There are former Likudniks in our party and that’s the way they talk. In politics, there always were crazy people and there always will be.”