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An election for the leadership of Kadima was held on 17 September 2008 as a concession to Kadima's coalition partner, Labour, which had threatened to bring down the government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert didn't stand aside following police investigations into alleged corruption during his terms as minister and as mayor of Jerusalem.
As Kadima remained the largest party in the Knesset and the coalition, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the designated new leader after balloting, had the chance to form a government without a need for elections. [1]
The election was the party's first official leadership election. [2] Previously, in 2006, there had been a leadership vote, but it was for interim leader. [3] [4]
On 28 July 2008 Livni announced that she would challenge Prime Minister Olmert for party leadership. Olmert was being politically dragged down by corruption investigations. Livni argued that the party had been misled under Olmert's leadership [5] On 30 July Olmert announced that he had against seeking reelection as party leader and prime minister. [6]
The two front-runners throughout the campaign consistently remained Mofaz and Livni, with Livni always holding a consistent lead in the polls. [7]
While both frontrunners supported a two-state solution, [8] [9] Mofaz attacked Livni for wanting to divide Jerusalem in a final peace deal with the Palestinians, [10] and claimed that his military experience would make him a more qualified Prime Minister. [11] [12] Livni and her supporters claimed that a vote for Mofaz is the same as a vote for the Likud due to Mofaz's hawkish and more right-wing positions.[ citation needed ] Livni also enjoyed a "clean" reputation, being seen as having honesty and integrity, and being free from corruption allegations. [13] Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert remained neutral in the primary, but was alleged to privately favor Mofaz. [14]
Exit polls released after the poll indicated a double-digit victory for Livni. [15] The actual vote count turned out much closer, amid very low turnout, with Shaul Mofaz coming within a few hundred votes of winning an unexpected victory over Livni. [16] Supporters of Mofaz called for a recount but Mofaz rejected any legal challenge of the declared result and called Livni to congratulate her on her victory, as did Sheetrit and Dichter. [17]
Candidate | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
Tzipi Livni | 16,936 | 43.06 |
Shaul Mofaz | 16,505 | 41.96 |
Meir Sheetrit | 3,327 | 8.46 |
Avi Dichter | 2,563 | 6.52 |
Total | 39,331 | 100.00 |
Source: BBC News, Ynet |
After Mofaz's loss, he announced that he would be taking a break from politics and leaving the government and Knesset. However, he would remain a member of Kadima. [18] Soon after, however, he rescinded his statement, [19] [20] and went on to win the 2nd place in Kadima's Knesset list for the 2009 election. [21] In a rematch in 2012, he won the leadership, [22] and in the 2013 election led the party to a stunning collapse, winning 2 seats. [23]
After her election, Livni failed to form a governing coalition, having failed to reach an agreement with Shas. Subsequently Knesset elections were held on 10 February 2009. [24]
Shaul Mofaz is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and Operation Entebbe with the paratroopers and Sayeret Matkal, an elite special forces unit. In 1998 he became the IDF's sixteenth Chief of staff serving until 2002. He is of Iranian Jewish ancestry.
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006. Between his first and second stints as a cabinet member, he served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003. After serving as PM, he was sentenced to serve a prison term over convictions for accepting bribes and for obstruction of justice during his terms as mayor of Jerusalem and as trade minister.
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Elections for the 18th Knesset were held in Israel on 10 February 2009. These elections became necessary due to the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the Kadima party, and the failure of his successor, Tzipi Livni, to form a coalition government. Had Olmert remained in office or had Livni formed a coalition government, the elections would have been scheduled for 2010 instead.
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An election for the leadership of Kadima was held on 27 March 2012, pitting Tzipi Livni against Shaul Mofaz. Mofaz won with 62% of the vote.
Avraham "Avi" Duan was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2012 and 2013.
Yuval Zellner is an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2012 and 2013, and again from 2014 until 2015.
Ahmed Dabbah is an Israeli Arab politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2012 and 2013, the party's first non-Druze Arab MK. He also served as mayor of Deir al-Asad and the now-dissolved city of Shaghur.
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