RAMALLAH: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and chairman of the Labor party yesterday harshly criticized the ruling Kadima party saying it has become a “refugee camp” and accused its leaders of being incapable of reaching decisions and of making the wrong decisions during the July 2006 war on Lebanon.
“With all the challenges the state of Israel is facing and the decisions which must be made, Kadima contenders would have failed to even set primaries in their party without the Labor party’s interference,” Barak said during a Labor assembly held at the party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Kadima is set to hold primary elections in September to choose a successor for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who is accused of corruption. Barak told his party members that he was the one fit to lead Israel. “We are in need of devoted leadership. No marketing gimmick will manage to blur the need for such experienced leadership. You know that I possess this.” He went on to compare his party to Kadima, saying that the real difference between Labor and the ruling party must be discussed.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with ministers and Knesset (parliament) members, who endorsed her in her bid for Kadima leadership, and told them that the party’s primary elections were about “Kadima’s image and Kadima’s future, and later on — Israel’s future.”
According to the foreign minister, “We must prove that we are a level-headed and worthy leadership. We want to return Kadima to what it should have been without ignoring the fact that we have been given a second chance to do so. Today, we have the opportunity to realize the dream we had when we established Kadima.”
Addressing her party’s advantages, Livni expressed her confidence in her ability to win both the primary elections and the general Knesset elections.
