Mofaz promises ‘new path forward,’ Livni questions his respect for democracy

Some 95,000 Kadima party members were electing their leader on Tuesday. The race between incumbent Tzipi Livni and her challenger Shaul Mofaz was expected to be tight; the result could dramatically change the current Israeli political landscape if the loser chooses to leave the party and create a breakaway faction.

Nearly 200 polling stations in 104 localities opened at 10:00 a.m. and would remain open for 12 hours. A final result was not expected before Wednesday morning.

Livni noted Tuesday morning that the vote was a re-run of the 2008 party leadership contest, in which she prevailed, and sounded bitter about being forced into another such race. She said Mofaz constantly highlighted his democratic credentials, but that the vote was only being held because he had refused to come to terms with the democratic vote four years ago in which he failed to oust her.

Mofaz promised “a new path forward” for Kadima after Tuesday. His wife Orit told Israel Radio the contest had “descended into inappropriate areas” — an apparent reference to Livni’s criticisms of Mofaz’s ostensible populist tendencies.

In the 2008 Kadima primaries, Livni beat Mofaz by a razor-thin majority of 231 votes. This time, Mofaz was able to secure more endorsements by fellow Kadima MKs, but the threat of a train strike on Tuesday morning — which was averted at the last minute — the rainy weather and the unpredictability of party members’ voting patterns for primaries, make it nearly impossible to forecast who will be the leader of the Knesset’s largest party in the upcoming election season.

Both Livni, a former foreign minister, and Mofaz, a former defense minister, expressed confidence that they will be elected to lead the party. While Mofaz has pledged to stay in Kadima even if he loses, Livni has not responded to questions about her political future if she is not reelected. Despite potentially dramatic implications for the future of the Israeli political landscape, Tuesday’s primaries have failed to garner significant media attention.