Kadima MK Meir Sheetrit, a longtime rival to chairwoman Tzipi Livni, is actively floating the idea of defecting from the party and creating a new Knesset faction with several other MKs. Sheetrit, who recently pressured Livni to call early primaries, has been working to court his colleagues in the hopes of garnering enough support to qualify as a splinter Knesset faction. According to Knesset rules, he would need to marshal the support of at least seven MKs in the opposition party to create a new parliamentary caucus. The initiative "is designed to restore the party's true values, particularly on socioeconomic issues," Sheetrit was quoted as saying recently. If Sheetrit manages to garner the support of the requisite seven party MKs and does indeed declare a splinter group, he plans to conduct a poll to determine who among the defectors is best suited to be at the helm of the faction. Some of the MKs who have been approached by Sheetrit have broached the idea of joining the current coalition, but the conventional wisdom within the party is that such a prospect is highly unlikely. Sheetrit has confirmed to Israel Hayom that he has been holding talks with MKs on possibly defecting from the party, but has taken pains to stress this merely represents an exchange of ideas, and at this point, no concrete steps. Sheetrit's new move comes as Kadima is struggling to recover from a corruption scandal involving its now-fired treasurer Itzik Hadad, who last year was charged with bribery, fraud and embezzlement over his alleged role in mismanaging some of Kadima's funds. Hadad has in turn accused Livni, party Director-General Moshe Schori and party Spokesperson Shmulik Dahan of making him a scapegoat. Hadad says all three received an advance copy of the State Comptroller's report that allegedly implicated him, and he responded by filing a criminal complaint of defamation against the group. The first court proceedings in the case are expected to open in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court in late February. MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) recently attacked Kadima's leadership for the way it has handled this affair. "You keep talking about how voices are silenced in the media. Do you want me to talk about the scare campaign that the Kadima leadership is waging against newspapers and television channels that want to publish the testimony of Kadima's [former] treasurer-" Akunis asked in a Knesset plenum session last week. The conventional wisdom within Kadima is that the Hadad affair will shake the party to its core. Just recently MK Avi Dichter, a fierce opponent of Livni who has said he would challenge her for the chairmanship, accused Livni and the party leadership of lacking financial transparency. Two weeks ago he was quoted as saying, "The state comptroller's report is only the tip of the iceberg in the foul play the party's top echelon is engaged in, which borders on criminality. The party apparatus is in effect committing libel against the party's elected officials." This most recent development comes as Kadima enters a period of uncertainty. Over the past several weeks party in-fighting reached new heights after MK Shaul Mofaz and Dichter - who are both clamoring for Livni's job - signed a petition along with 12 other party MKs calling on Livni to call for early primaries, in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that Likud may hold its own leadership contest in January - possibly indicating a march toward early general elections. But Livni has used her powers as party chairperson to thwart any challenge to her leadership. This could be overruled if three additional MKs sign the petition. Sheetrit's effort brings new intensity to the attempts to unseat Livni, and underlies the simmering tensions among Kadima's top echelons, where there is fear that the once dominant party might be caught off-guard - and become irrelevant - if it does not decide on its leader for the next election cycle. Some MKs have openly suggested that they would work to "dismantle" the party if Livni does not allow let the leadership contest to move forward.
Sheetrit, whose latest effort was first reported by Army Radio's Sefi Ovadia, has apparently been highly critical of Livni, telling his colleagues that she has caused the party's standing to erode to the point of irrelevance.
Kadima MK Meir Sheetrit toys with creating new faction
Rival to Tzipi Livni aims to "restore the party's true values," focus on socioeconomic issues • Sheetrit is banking on party members' frustration with Livni's refusal to move up primaries and concern about corruption allegations.
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