Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., August 28, 2008 Av 27, 5768 | | Israel Time: 17:44 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

General Mofaz runs for office By Uri Blau and Gidi Weitz Tags: Shaul Mofaz, Kadima "If you don't use time to promote your goals and improve your situation, others are liable to do so to your detriment. To control the time dimension, it is necessary to take an initiative, operate on the basis of a rational plan and set a timetable for implementation." - Shaul Mofaz, remarks at Bar-Ilan University, May 2004 It's not easy to find the campaign headquarters of Shaul Mofaz. Bezeq does not list the phone number, and the candidate's blog, created with an investment of tens of thousands of shekels, makes no mention of the address. Only a request for a form to join the party leads to 8 Tfutsot Yisrael Street in Givatayim. The headquarters are here, in a huge building in an industrial-commercial area. The door is locked, and a suspicious guard wants to know exactly where the guest is headed. Inside, a few Kadima posters hang on the walls, along with one photograph of Mofaz. The deadline for party registration expires in two days, but there is no sense of urgency in the offices. Five or six people sit at computers, speaking on the phone, smiling. On the wall is a map of the Land of Israel, and next to it a chart filled with names: every city and local council in the country, the name of the mayor or council head (red for Mofaz supporters, green for those who support others or are non-aligned), the number of registered party members, the number of those who back Mofaz and the goal for which campaign headquarters is aiming. The results of the latest polls, and the fact that some of the names on the wall have moved from green to red, indicate they are on the right path. Advertisement