Livni camp fears Mofaz takeover during Kadima primary

Senior Kadima officials are calling on party chairwoman Tzipi Livni to be more involved in the primary vote on Wednesday. They say she could in effect find herself facing an opposition faction that would render her nearly powerless, in light of the all-out campaign by rival Shaul Mofaz on behalf of the people who supported his bid for the party leadership, a move aimed at building a power base for himself among Kadima's MKs.

On Thursday, Mofaz put together a list of his recommended voting choices in the primary, and as reported in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz on Friday, he is very involved in trying to influence the party slate for the general election. Reports of his activities whipped up emotions within Kadima.

Senior figures close to Livni said they feared Mofaz was trying to take control of the party's Knesset representation, while Livni prefers to maintain a more statesmanlike stance that could hurt her after the election.

Mofaz's list includes MKs who helped him in the contest in September against Livni: Ze'ev Boim, Ruhama Avraham, Ronit Tirosh, Otniel Schneller and David Tal. Also on the list are the campaign managers and important party workers in his leadership bid, at least five of whom Mofaz wants to see high enough on Kadima's roster that they stand a strong chance of being elected.

The idea is to use the campaign workers who assisted Mofaz in his leadership bid to create a group of MKs that will increase his power relative to Livni's.

Mofaz is careful to recommend all the senior Kadima figures who supported Livni, thus sending a message of party unity.

Livni supporters are critical of her refusal to intervene personally in the selection of the candidates' list. They also worry about a low voter turnout and are planning a campaign to urge Kadima members to go to the polls on Wednesday.