In keeping with the position of front-runner Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the candidates for Kadima party leader need not sign a promise to remain in the party in the event that they lose. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, trailing her narrowly in the polls, is pleased as well.
The primaries are to be held six weeks from now.
The party's Knesset faction made the decision not to require the commitment on Monday afternoon. It was also decided not to secure the second position on the future list of Knesset candidates for the second-place finisher in the party leader race.
Livni had previously said that she would not sign such a commitment, even if it were to be demanded. "Kadima is not just a political matter," she said, "but a political path." Her aides later explained that she would remain in the party only if it serves the ideals for which it originally stood.
Four candidates are expected to run in the primaries for Kadima party leader: Foreign Minister Livni, Transportation Minister Mofaz, Interior Minister Meir Shitreet, and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter. It was Dichter who had been pushing strongly for the candidates to promise to remain in the party, regardless of the results of the primaries.
"I cannot imagine any candidate from Kadima who would not be able to promise to remain in the party," Dichter said on Monday. "Kadima is home, and one does not leave home."
Hasson Endorses Livni
Kadima MK Yoel Hasson, a freshman Knesset Member, held a news conference on Monday in which he endorsed Livni. "I have reached the conclusion that the good of the country, first of all, and then the good of Kadima, obligate me to support Tzipi Livni," Hasson said. "The country needs a leadership that will be able to restore public trust in the political establishment, and to effect a significant reform in the system of government."
"I believe that Tzipi Livni is the right person to fulfill the vision of Kadima and carry out the legacy of [former Prime Minister and Kadima founder] Ariel Sharon," Hasson said.
Mofaz Has Support of Mayors
Though Livni has significant support among her fellow MKs, Minister Mofaz, on the other hand, is doing well outside the Knesset. Some 30 mayors are expected to take part in the official launching of his candidacy this evening in Jerusalem.
Mofaz will concentrate on his security record, having served as Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff. He has expressed strong confidence that he will win, and says that he will form a new national unity government by November.
Mofaz escaped a potentially akward situation when Kadima withdrew the demand for a commitment to remain in the party. Having served as a Likud government minister, he announced his candidacy for Likud party leader in December 2005, promising not to leave the party - and then, with the polls showing him losing, he abruptly quit the Likud and joined Kadima. There has been talk that if he loses this time, he may return to the Likud.