Mofaz Slams PM, 'Kadima Rebels'

MK Shaul Mofaz was reappointed leader of the opposition on Monday. The reappointment comes in the week of numerous defections from the party. Speaking to Kadima MKs, Mofaz slammed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over his failure to pass a tough draft law, terming the government's proposals on the matter “a second Tal Law.”

Mofaz also had harsh words for numerous MKs who have already stated that they were planning to leave the party and return to the Likud. Mofaz said that he would do whatever he could to get back at them, starting with throwing them off the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which he chairs. A government official who requested anonymity called Mofaz's speech “petty and childish,” and said that he would be unable to remove the MKs who were defecting to the Likud from the Committee “just because he doesn't like them.” On Monday afternoon, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, a member of the Committee, officially announced Monday afternoon that he was returning to the Likud.