Livni mulls March Kadima race
Kadima leader Tzipi Livni instructed her party’s legal authorities and organizational team to investigate whether it would be possible to hold a leadership race as early as March, sources close to Livni said Wednesday, confirming a report on Channel 1.
Holding the race in only two months could enable Livni to catch her party rivals off guard as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did to his nemesis, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, when he advanced the Likud primary from spring 2013 to three weeks from now.
“She wants to hold the race as soon as possible, but a decision hasn’t been made yet,” a Livni associate said. “She needs to check what is possible and legal. The race could be in two months, or four to five. She will get the responses of the party authorities and decide soon.”
Livni’s political foes welcomed the report and said they were not concerned about their readiness for the race.
MK Meir Sheetrit told The Jerusalem Post from Spain: “At last! We wanted March all along. It is good that she finally woke up, made a decision, and accepted our demand.”
A source close to MK Shaul Mofaz said he wanted the race to be in March in the first place.
MK Avi Dichter complained on Army Radio that “Livni has led the party to the depths of hell,” and that the party’s downfall in the polls was 90 percent her fault.
Livni’s spokesman responded that “Dichter’s candidacy has led him to new lows that embarrass the party and himself.”
The spokesman said that Livni will continue to lead Kadima and would not stoop to mudslinging.