Almost half the members of the opposition Kadima party have threatened to split the party if primaries are not brought forward, as they have been in the ruling Likud party. Party head Tzipi Livni, who last week decided that the issue would not be debated until the Knesset's spring recess next year, has been forced to reopen the debate. MK Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich -- one of the more enthusiastic supporters of an earlier date for the primaries and a vociferous opponent of Livni's leadership -- said, "I spoke with many MKs over the last two days and the feeling is that Kadima will cease to exist if primaries are not held soon. There is a limit to the party head's cowardly tyranny. Her opposition to the primaries proves she is afraid she will lose." According to party rules, it is almost impossible to call for early primaries without the party leader's approval, and over the past several weeks hundreds of Kadima party activists and officials have signed a petition urging Livni to invoke the necessary provision in the Kadima constitution to allow the primaries to go forward. Close advisers of MK Shaul Mofaz -- who has all but announced he will run again for the party chairmanship, along with other expected challengers -- agree with Shamalov-Berkovich. Alluding to Livni's stated positions on political and security issues, the advisers said, "It was not the right time to form a government after the elections. It wasn't the right time to bring Gilad Shalit back home. According to that perception, it is also not the right time for primaries, even though everyone is aware that [national] elections are just around the corner. Livni was caught by surprise [by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's moving up the Likud primaries] once again, and she will once again react too late." Livni received a barrage of criticism recently for making statements retroactively criticizing the deal to release abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. Many of her opponents called her "cowardly" for waiting until after the deal went through to voice her opinion. Recently, Livni's main challengers for the party leadership -- MKs Mofaz, Avi Dichter and Meir Shetreet -- sent her a letter demanding early primaries. At the same time, MK Israel Hasson began canvassing the signatures of other party members for the same cause. As of Tuesday, 12 of the 15 Kadima MKs required to pass the regulation have signed the petition. Kadima faction head MK Dalia Itzik supports the petition but has not lent her signature due to the position she holds in the party. The petition's supporters were hoping that in light of the Likud's move to set an earlier date for that party's primaries, the fact that Labor has already held its primaries, and Meretz is planning to hold its primaries in February, additional Kadima party members would soon be convinced to join their campaign. Livni's close advisers said that despite her decision not to deal with the matter at this time, she intends to meet with Kadima MKs to discuss the issue. "Likud and Kadima -- each party makes its own best decisions. The fact that the Likud wants Kadima to have primaries now doesn't mean that necessarily has to happen now," a Livni adviser said. The centrist Kadima party won the biggest bloc of Knesset seats in the 2009 elections (28, compared to the Likuds 27) but failed to form a governing coalition. It also took a beating from this summer's social justice movement, which brought hundreds of thousands of citizens into the streets and city squares to protest the high cost of living in Israel. Had Livni capitalized on the sentiment of the protest movement, many believe she could have boosted her popularity. Instead, however, she chose to remain on the sidelines, and instead, the protest invigorated the Labor party, which has historically been associated with social causes. Labor elected the populist MK Shelly Yachimovich as party chairwoman in September, and for the first time polls showed that if elections were held now, Labor would take more Knesset seats than Kadima.
Pressure on Livni mounts as Kadima pushes for early primaries
Twelve Kadima MKs sign a demand to set an earlier date for party primaries • Mofaz supporters: Livni will once again react too late • Livni supporters: The Likud wants us to have primaries? That won't necessarily happen.
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