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Last update - 16:09 09/12/2008
Livni: Likud's Knesset line-up is Netanyahu's burden, not mine
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Kadima, Likud, Israel News 

Kadima chair Tzipi Livni, who will face Benjamin Netanyahu in the race for the prime ministership in February, responded Tuesday to the results of the primary in Netanyahu's Likud, using the opposition leader's nickname in calling the Likud election lineup "Bibi's problem."

Netanyahu had hoped that a number of moderates he brought into the party would grant the party a centrist image. But in the Monday primary, hardliners captured most of the first 10 spots on the Likud list, and dominated the next 10 as well.

Livni, a former Likud cabinet minister, said of the candidacy roster "The list is not my problem, it's Bibi's problem. It's a weight around his legs, not mine."
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that in electing hardliners to the top spots on the Likud Knesset list for upcoming elections, the Likud had turned from a party of peace to an extreme right faction.

"The Likud, which was once a party of peace, has turned into an extreme rightist party, which will lead the state of Israel into a corner of isolation and which will bring us back to grave times," Olmert said.

Tzahi Hanegbi, a senior legislator and campaign strategist for Olmert's Kadima, said Tuesday that the Likud had elected an "extreme rightist" list of Knesset candidates, in which Likud rebels - who had fought then-Likud leader Ariel Sharon over the 2005 disengagement from Gaza - had become the party's rulers.

Hanegbi, himself a former senior Likud lawmaker who accompanied then-party leader Ariel Sharon in a party split following the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, said the "real Likud" had emerged from the primary.

"Netanyahu's dream team became his nightmare. The stars are
out and the rebels are in," Hanegbi said, referring to former Likud MK Moshe Kachlon and others who fought against Sharon over the disengagement, and who scored places at the top of the list ahead of February 10 general elections.

Hanegbi's mother, Geula Cohen, was one of the founding lawmakers of the Likud. Hanegbi was long seen as a hardliner, having physically resisted the IDF evacuation of Sinai settlements in 1982.

Sharon founded Kadima after the split, bringing in Hanegbi, Olmert, Livni, Shaul Mofaz, and others from the Likud, as well as Shimon Peres, Haim Ramon, and others from Labor.

"Netanyahu has presented an extreme rightist list," Hanegbi said. "The Likud rebels are rebels no longer, they are the rulers."

According to Ramon, "the illusion of a center-right party was shattered this morning. It is clear that this is the most extreme right-wing list the Likud has fielded since its founding."

"From the 20th place on up, you can find people on the very edge of the rightist edge," Ramon added. "All of the Likud's attempts to disguise itself have failed."

MK Ze'ev Boim, another Kadima MK who began his career in the Likud, said the Likud had revealed its true face.

"Just as Ariel Sharon understood that the Likud has no future, in the end, Bibi [Netanyahu] will reach the same conclusion, and be forced to establish a new party."

MK Zehava Gal-On of the leftist Meretz said the Likud list would torpedo

Feiglin: 'The Likud is back to what it once was'
Moshe Feiglin, the leader of the far-right Jewish Leadership camp within the Likud, voiced satisfaction with the primary results. Feiglin came in 20th, and is seen as all but guaranteed a seat in the next Knesset.

"The Likud has set a list which is faithful to its values. I am happy for the Likud. I am happy for the country. This is the true Likud. The Likud is back to what it once was."

Uzi Dayan, a former general widely viewed as a moderate, finished a distant 42nd in the voting. Netanyahu had hoped that Dayan would help boost the image of a centrist-oriented party.

"Yesterday the Likud chose a good line-up, which will rule Israel, and I congratulate it. I'm not a conditional Israeli, and not a conditional Likudnik, and I will continue to contribute to the state of Israel and to Israeli society to the best of my ability." "


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      1.   Kadima 12:11  |  DT 09/12/08
      2.   The real rebels were those that formed Kadima 12:22  |  Zev 09/12/08
      3.   Yeah Kadima 12:44  |  Robert Haymond 09/12/08
      4.   Kadima, A government in failure 12:57  |  Nephtaly 09/12/08
      5.   Olmert`s homily 13:06  |  Brod 09/12/08
      6.   Depressing news for Israel... 13:16  |  Esther 09/12/08
      7.   I am happy about this result 13:26  |  Chris Linthwaite 09/12/08
      8.   Taste of the future 13:29  |  Paul 09/12/08
      9.   this is reciprocity! 13:29  |  Matthias Roth 09/12/08
      10.   Likud = Extreme Right 13:31  |  ERSB 09/12/08
      11.   Olmert Opinion and 2 dollars will get him on the subway 13:37  |  Simon 09/12/08
      12.   Chris Linthwaite 13:39  |  Daniela 09/12/08
      13.   Olmert keeps on telling it like it is....... 13:45  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/12/08
      14.   Chris Linthwaite It Ain`t So Simple 13:55  |  ERSB 09/12/08
      15.   Imagine a majority of Israelis will vote for extreme right.... 14:01  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/12/08
      16.   Chris Linthwaite 14:06  |  Brod 09/12/08
      17.   # 14 ERSB, sorry, but that "excuse" is definitely not.... 14:22  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/12/08
      18.   One Can one take anything that Olmert says seriously? 14:26  |  Dmitri 09/12/08
      19.   Bibi will be our next P.M. 14:26  |  Wise Saba 09/12/08
      20.   Preaching from Olmert?? 14:33  |  Steven 09/12/08
      21.   The huge majority of the public is sick of `Cringing Kadima`. 14:38  |  redmike 09/12/08
      22.   Livni pointing one finger at Likud and four fingers at herself 14:48  |  Avi 09/12/08
      23.   kadima is proud? 14:49  |  HOWARD 09/12/08
      24.   Likud list 14:51  |  Ralph 09/12/08
      25.   Sorry Swiss but the sometimes the truth is inconvenient. 14:56  |  ERSB 09/12/08
      26.   @Swiss (Dino) 14:59  |  Ralph 09/12/08
      27.   Shutup..its a GREAT list 15:05  |  Eliezer Edwin 09/12/08
      28.   party of peace????? is that a joke???????? 15:09  |  abraham 09/12/08
      29.   party of peace????? is that a joke???????? 15:09  |  abraham 09/12/08
      30.   Likud is more in touch with the people than Kadimah 15:11  |  IW 09/12/08
      31.   #16 Brod 15:13  |  Chris Linthwaite 09/12/08
      32.   Is Does Livni have the"this isn`t Kansas anymore" look or is it 15:15  |  Siggie 09/12/08
      33.   She`s right 15:28  |  Paul 09/12/08
      34.   Reminds me of the republican party 15:31  |  Mark Lincoln 09/12/08
      35.   # 25 ERSB 15:35  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/12/08
      36.   # 26 Ralphie, and I don`t like bad weather..... 15:36  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/12/08
      37.   What is Olmert trying to prove?! 15:42  |  Zev Davis 09/12/08
      38.   Extreme Right? 15:42  |  HSR 09/12/08
      39.   olmert should be careful of comparisons 15:43  |  Arie 09/12/08
      40.   swiss(dino):Olmert tells it like it is 15:44  |  Arie 09/12/08
      41.   Swiss dino calling abbas a dove 15:47  |  Arie 09/12/08
      42.   Matthias Roth`s point is well taken 15:47  |  Avi 09/12/08
      43.   THANK G,ISRAEL GRADUALY MOVNG RIGHT!SOLUTION:STRONG JEWISH ISRAEL 15:48  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 09/12/08
      44.   A typically biased Ha`aretz article... 15:52  |  Ohev Tsion 09/12/08
      45.   Tzipi, Olmert, Mofaz, Barak - you are IRRELEVANT! 16:01  |  ASM 09/12/08
      46.   Kadima is Israel`s Burden... 16:27  |  Erich 09/12/08
      47.   Israel Version of Sarah Palin 17:04  |  Dave 09/12/08
      48.   Dino, Likud hasn`t won the Knesset elections yet - 17:22  |  ivo 09/12/08
      49.   The next leader of the Land of Israel is the Mashiach 17:26  |  Elliot Davis 09/12/08
      50.   Olmert brought Israel to grave times not Likud 17:40  |  Judea 09/12/08
      51.   Olmert should be the last to speak,,,, 17:47  |  Honesty 09/12/08
      52.   Dave, put your glasses on, please! 17:55  |  Zev Davis 09/12/08
      53.   Chris Linthwaite #31 18:04  |  Brod 09/12/08
      54.   Chris Linthwaite #31 18:58  |  Brod 09/12/08
      55.   Reuven Adler`s puppies whinning 20:13  |  Ilan 09/12/08
      56.   Israel wants and needs Likud to be strongly rightist & patriotic. 20:20  |  Chaim 09/12/08
      57.   NOW we should demand Olmert & Livni be investigated for treason. 20:26  |  Chaim 09/12/08
      58.   #29- let`s see it happen 20:26  |  yezmar 09/12/08
      59.   36 Esther. Perhaps "depressing" for you, but great Israel. 20:29  |  Chaim 09/12/08
      60.   The Less Olmert says the better...... 21:36  |  Natasha 09/12/08
      61.   To Chaim @ 48 - Hear. hear ! 21:56  |  The Threadmill 09/12/08
      62.   To abraham @ 28 Why should Palestinians cry 23:45  |  Honesty 09/12/08
      63.   `SOUR GRAPES` Livni...... 23:57  |  Jeremy 09/12/08
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