Israel

Livni wins Kadima leadership by a hair

Article published on the 2008-09-18 Latest update 2008-09-18 14:39 TU

Tzipi Livni arrives at a polling station in Tel Aviv.
(Photo: Reuters)

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won leadership of Israel’s ruling Kadima party Thursday by a very tight margin. Livni will now have to convince the other coalition parties to support her to become Prime Minister.

Considering the slim margin of victory, after results were announced Thursday morning, Livni immediately moved to unite her party. “We will unite Kadima and walk together. From today onward we are together and that way we will remove the uncertainty,” Livni said in her victory speech.

Talks with her three defeated rivals, including Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz whom she only defeated by 431 votes, were scheduled for Thursday, before meetings with coalition members slated for Friday.

Kadima’s scheduled leadership convention selected Livni after her predecessor Prime Minister Ehud Olmert chose not to seek reelection following a series of corruption allegations.

Livni is not a typical choice for leader of Israel, Gallia Golan, analyst at the Herzolia Institute for inter-disciplinary studies, told RFI.

“Tzipi Livni represented not security but integrity”, Golan says. “Given the corruption crisis that we’ve had with the present government… this issue of integrity has become more important in the minds of people.”

This is a departure from previous political trends because “the choice has been for integrity as opposed to the strong man with the security background,” Golan says.