Kadima party chairwoman Tzipi Livni and her fellow MKs stated clearly on Thursday that they would head to the opposition, rather than join a unity government.
Livni was the first to release a statement saying that she would not join a Netanyahu-led government. “Politics is not just about numbers but a path. Kadima and I have a path that I believe in. I will not be a front for a paralyzed nationalist government,” she said.
Later in the day Linvi spoke to her party and said, "Today the foundations were laid for an extreme right-wing government headed by Netanyahu." "We must be an alternative and head to the opposition," she added.
Kadima MK Ze'ev Bielski-elect added his voice to Livni's, saying, “I agree with Tzipi Livni who has chosen to fight for our path to move a diplomatic solution forward, even if we have to do so from the opposition. We will not serve as a fig leaf for a right-wing government. The public put their trust in us and we will not be unfaithful to it.”
Kadima MK Tzachi HaNegbi spoke out in the afternoon on Voice of Israel government radio and he, too, made it clear that Kadima would head for the opposition. “Israel will have a government headed by Netanyahu. It will have 65 MKs. Kadima will lead the opposition,” he said.
MK Meir Sheetrit from Kadima also echoed his party member's comments in an interview on IDF Army Radio. "We can't be a fig leaf for a right-wing party. We will go to the opposition, since joining the Likud would destroy Kadima."
HaNegbi said that most of the Kadima Knesset members agree that the party must head to the opposition, vowing the faction would become “a strong opposition,” and promising that the party would not become “a fifth wheel of a car going nowhere” by joining a Likud-led government.
Kadima MK Roni Bar-On - like HaNegbi and Sheetrit, a former Likud member - agreed with his colleagues, saying, "Kadima is the only alternative to Netanyahu's extremes." He also had a dire prediction for Likud: "I have no doubt that the government that will be formed will last for the least amount of time ever in the history of the State of Israel."
Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party leader Avigdor Lieberman chose to endorse Netanyahu to President Shimon Peres on Thursday. Along with the support of the four religious parties, Netanyahu gained a majority of the Knesset’s approval to form a coalition, ending Livni and Kadima’s claim of victory in the elections held just over a week ago.