Hermesh blasts Kadima for not reserving slot for him

"It is chutzpah that they are reserving places for Arabs and immigrants and not for the pioneers who settled this land," says MK.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
shai hermesh 298.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
shai hermesh 298.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The Kadima faction decided to reserve slots on the party's list for women, immigrants and a non-Jew in a meeting at the party's Petah Tikva headquarters on Monday, angering representatives of other sectors. MK Shai Hermesh, who represents kibbutzim and moshavim in Kadima, stormed out of the meeting in protest against the decision to reject his request for a reserved slot for his sector. Livni's chief of staff Amir Goldstein ran out of the building after Hermesh, but he refused to return. "It is chutzpah that they are reserving places for Arabs and immigrants and not for the pioneers who settled this land," Hermesh said on his way out of the building. Hermesh said he was angry because Kadima faction chairman Yoel Hasson prevented a vote on reserving the slot. He said his sector brought the party three seats in the last election and yet he still did not make the Knesset until Uriel Reichman quit, and it could easily happen that the sector would not be represented in the next Knesset. "Labor cares enough about kibbutzim that it reserves a realistic slot for Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon," Hermesh said. "Kadima is showing disrespect and making a statement that it does not care about us. If Kadima wants to commit suicide, it can." Leaders of the sector will meet on Tuesday to plan strategy to block Kadima leader Tzipi Livni from passing her proposal for reserving slots at Thursday's Kadima council meeting. Livni's proposal would reserve slots 10, 20, 29 and 30 for immigrants, 21 for a non-Jew and three slots for women. A Kadima activist expressed outrage that no slot was reserved for a young candidate as in the Likud. Many political deals are expected ahead of the December 16 Kadima primary. The MKs who supported Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz in the Kadima leadership race will unite to help each other get reelected. One MK who supported Mofaz said he intended to work against the reelection of Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, who he said spoke disrespectfully against Mofaz during the race. Livni announced at the meeting that former Shinui MK Eti Livni (who isn't related to her) would run for a seat with the party.