2012 Kadima leadership election claim in an interview with Haaretz and admitted mistakes with handling the party several years ago. Mofaz supporters accused Livni of encouraging Bat Yam mayor Shlomo Lahiani to join the race in order to split the Sefardi vote. Livni denied the accusation. Lahiani said his family did not want him to run, but he wanted to change the priorities of Israel. He was confident that he could beat Mofaz and Livni, and even take Kadima to victory over Likud. However, Lahiani ultimately decided not to run. Originally rejecting calls for him to withdraw from the race, Dichter dropped out five
Meir Nitzan LeZion in 1983 and was re-elected four times. In November 2008, he lost the municipal elections to Dov Tzur. After his defeat, Nitzan announced that he would run in the Kadima party primaries and vie for a seat in the Knesset in the 2009 elections. However, he later left the party to support Likud as he was unhappy with the behaviour of party leader Tzipi Livni. Kadima claimed Nitzan quit because the party refused to cover his campaign debts. Nitzan served as acting mayor of Lod in 2011-2013. During his tenure, the crime rate dropped, the municipality organized a "sulha",