Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the chairwoman of the ruling Kadima party, attacked the Likud Thursday and also managed to anger the Sephardic hareidi-religious party Shas.
Speaking at a Kadima gathering, in a talk that one commentator called "especially aggressive," the would-be Prime Minister said, "Kadima will represent Israel and determine its identity as a Jewish state, without selling the country to the hareidim along the way. This is a national matter, not just a religious one."
Shas Response
Shas was quick to respond to Livni's barb. The party's Knesset whip, MK Yaakov Mergi, said, "Kadima indeed will not sell the country to the hareidis, because it will first sell it to the Arabs - by compromising over Jerusalem."
"Kadima is showing its true face," Mergi continued. "The gap between Kadima and [the now defunct anti-hareidi party] Shinui is shrinking by the day."
"The person who promised us 'a different brand of politics' is exhibiting 'white politics,' and Kadima's beginning will be like Shinui's end," Mergi predicted. "The history of politics proves that whoever fights against religion and Judaism will eventually become 'virtual.'"
Likud Also on Hit List
Livni also attacked the Likud, which she called "a party that only knows how to say 'no' about every subject." Livni's speech came after three polls showed her party trailing Likud by a significant margin in the upcoming elections.
Tension between Kadima and Shas has been rising ever since Shas scuttled Livni's bid to take the place of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert without having to run for elections in the near future. Livni's advisors reportedly hoped that she could gain stature in the public eye and improve her chance of being elected if she first served as Prime Minister for a while. Shas, however, refused to join her coalition, thus forcing her to call new elections.