Return of Livni? Renegade Kadima MKs seek former leader

A day after Mofaz successfully managed to avert a defection of members to the coalition, former Kadima MK and cabinet minister Haim Ramon has apparently managed to convince seven of the party's MKs to leave the party and form an independent faction headed by Livni perhaps as early as Wednesday.

The so called "Ramon Gang of Seven" are Shlomo Molla, Yoel Hasson, Nino Abesadze, Nachman Shai, Orit Zuaretz, Dr. Rachel Adato and Robert Tiviaev. One MK in to this group said on Tuesday that the group already has the legal threshold of seven members necessary to carry out the move, but "we are not in a hurry to go anywhere; we already have a leader and now we are just waiting for the right timing. The botched defection [on Monday] stalled our own move to split the party, but there is no doubt that it will eventually be carried out. We, as a group, believe in Livni's leadership and do not believe Mofaz serves as a viable alternative to the current government."

The split may take place as early as Wednesday, which is the last day of the current Knesset session, but MKs who are privy to the inner deliberations deny the likelihood of such a move taking place in such haste. If the group of seven decide to split they would have to ask the House Committee to convene and have the move approved — which would be a difficult undertaking once the Knesset goes on recess. Despite the ongoing denials, over at Mofaz's offices, there is great consternation over the move actually being carried out. "I am not sure they actually have seven members," said one Mofaz associate Tuesday.

Meanwhile, following an intense hearing at the House Committee Sunday, the legislature rejected Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz's request to expel four so called Kadima renegades for allegedly trying to join the Likud-led coalition earlier this week. Yulia Shamalov Berkovich, Otniel Schneller, Arie Bibi and Avraham Duan were accused of accepting cabinet portfolios and other benefits in exchange for their defection from the opposition party, less than a week after Mofaz announced an end to the two-month partnership with Likud in what was the shortest unity government in Israeli history.

Mofaz's request was defeated by an 11-2 majority, with only Kadima MKs Marina Solodkin and Akram Hasson voting in favor of the measure. The committee criticized Mofaz for failing to show up at the hearing to elaborate on his request and discuss its merits. Committee chairman Yariv Levin (Likud) defined the request as "lousy, void of explanations and lacking any supporting documents. Total shame and disgrace." The Knesset Legal Adviser, Eyal Yinon, also voiced objection to Mofaz's request and said that there exists only one such precedent in the annals of the Knesset. The 16th Knesset voted to declare Michael Nudelman (National Union) as having left his party, but only after 28 instances in which he voted against the government on a no-confidence motion in defiance of party discipline.

Yinon said that the behavior of the four MKs in question does not meet the necessary threshold required to have the stripped of their privileges as Kadima faction members. MK Meir Sheetrit, who represented Mofaz at the hearing, said that the four Knesset members were offered the position of deputy ministers in the current government and some of them have even told the media about it. The four MKs told the committee about the low morale that has become a mainstay in Kadima and did not mince words in their criticism of Mofaz. They all denied they were promised specific positions in the government. "There is no agreement and there never was any agreement that I signed. If someone shows me such a piece of paper I am willing to eat it; you don't punish people for intention and thoughts," MK Bibi said. Avi Duan, who until recently was one of Mofaz's closest associates, said that he is "deeply disappointed by Mofaz's conduct as chairman; when Livni was at the helm of Kadima, Mofaz and I held dozens of talks on how to split the party. I was never promised a position of a cabinet portfolio or the position of deputy minister. True, one of my long-held dreams is to become the minister in charge of welfare services, but I was just exploring that option."

According to the plan, the Kadima defectors were to help Netanyahu pass his controversial bill to increase the number of haredim and Israeli Arabs in the military and approve next year's budget. The group reportedly comprised six Kadima MKs — Otniel Schneller, Yulia Shamalov Berkovich, Arie Bibi, Avraham Duan, Yaakov Edri, and, according to several Israeli news outlets, Nino Abesadze — although only four were actually mentioned in Mofaz's letter to the House Committee asking for disciplinary measures.

The six Kadima members had objected to Mofaz's decision to leave the coalition last week over the haredi draft issue. Mofaz said his decision was a consequence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to ignore Kadima's proposed reforms to the Tal Law that effectively exempts the haredi sector from the mandatory service requirement. Legislating an alternative to the Tal Law served as one of the main rationales behind Kadima's decision to join Netanyahu's government in early May, just hours before the Knesset was set to call early elections. The High Court of Justice ruled in January that the Tal Law cannot be extended when it expires in August as it discriminates against the majority of Israeli Jews. However, with the two major parties failing to legislate an alternative, it is unclear when kind of mechanism would be in place in the interim period.

In the wake of Mofaz's decision to bolt the coalition, Tzachi Hanegbi, a former MK and cabinet member for Likud and then MK for Kadima, orchestrated efforts to rejoin the coalition. Hanegbi was expected to get the Home Front Defense portfolio in the cabinet instead of Matan Vilnai, who has been appointed ambassador to China. Duan was reportedly promised the position of Deputy Social Affairs and Social Services Minister. Bibi, a former Israel Prisons Service commissioner, was floated as a possible Deputy Public Security Minister and chairman of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee

At the hearing Tuesday, MK Shamalov Berkovich said she did not "defect" or "leave for a different party." She said she considered her becoming a Knesset member a form of public service. "Have we now entered an era where you cannot criticize the chairman? This is a form of silencing people. Does Mofaz think that if you lie about a lying you are home free? I feel that now I am stuck in Kadima."

MK Schneller echoed his fellow faction members, saying that "months on end, Mofaz and us plotted a maneuver that would have had Kadima split. What is all this hypocrisy all about-" He also denied that he had been promised the position of deputy minister. "I did not talk with the prime minister about any position," he said. MK Israel Hasson (Kadima) was one of the few who defended the chairman. "There are two elements that know the truth — the party that lured and the party that was lured. The former, namely the Prime Minister's Office, is just as complicit, and too bad it sent no representatives for this meeting. Unfortunately, the discussion we have here is not about substance but about the framework. I leave this hearing as a worried citizen and ask myself where this shame will move from now on."

Against this backdrop, Kadima launched a new bus advertising campaign Tuesday under the slogan "We salute you, Mofaz." The move has elicited criticism among top Kadima officials who decried the large costs associated with posting the bus adverts and the perception that Mofaz has initiated this effort as a way of improving his reputation.

A Kadima spokesperson said in a statement that the party "will oppose Netanyahu's draft-dodging law; Kadima is in line with the majority of Zionists and mainstream Israelis who want an equal sharing of the burden and equality in service."

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