Mofaz elected leader of Israel's Kadima party

SHAUL MOFAZ, elected leader of Israel’s Kadima party with a comfortable victory over incumbent Tzipi Livni in Tuesday’s primary, has vowed to replace Binyamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister.

In his victory speech after he secured almost 62 per cent of the vote, Mr Mofaz called for party unity, urged Ms Livni to remain in the Kadima ranks, and said Israel now had a viable alternative to Mr Netanyahu. “Three years of the Netanyahu administration have derailed Israel from its track. A strong and united Kadima will put Israel back on the right path,” he told cheering supporters.

However, he faces an uphill battle. Kadima is the largest party in the Knesset, with 28 members in the 120-seat parliament. However, political infighting, scandals involving leading Kadima politicians and a failure to promote a clear ideological alternative led to a dive in the party’s fortunes. Latest polls give Kadima only about a dozen seats, way behind Likud with over 30.

Associates said Mr Mofaz’s immediate priorities will be to rejuvenate the party, and then set a new social agenda for Kadima in an attempt to tap the social protest movement that swept Israel last summer.

Partly due to his military background, Mr Mofaz (63) is perceived as being more right-wing than Ms Livni.

His victory may prompt left-leaning Kadima voters to switch allegiances to a resurgent Labour party or the newly formed centrist party led by former TV personality Yair Lapid, with its clear secularist platform.

Shaul Mofaz moved to Israel as a child from Iran with his family in 1957.

After growing up in poverty he embarked on an illustrious military career, working his way up through the paratroopers and special forces to be appointed Israel’s top general in 1998. During the second Palestinian uprising, he made his mark as commander of operation Defensive Shield, when Israeli troops reoccupied West Bank cities, and as the architect of Israel’s controversial policy targeting militant commanders.

After serving as defence minister under prime minister Ariel Sharon, he made his biggest political gaffe, declaring his loyalty to Likud only two days before he bolted to join Mr Sharon’s new Kadima party.

It is relatively rare for a Sephardic Jew to be elected as head of a political party in Israel.