Kadima had left Sharon's original governing coalition. In the past, Shinui had also called itself a "centrist" party because it rejected both Labor's socialism (its economic policies were free-market) and the Likud's opposition to a Palestinian state (however, from an international standpoint, Shinui may have actually been on the centre-right). Justice Minister Tzipi Livni reportedly told Israel Army Radio that Kadima intended to help foster the desire for a separate Palestinian state, a move applauded by leftist Yossi Beilin. Sharon was one of the prime architects pushing for the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier that has been criticized by
Eitan Livni Eitan Livni Yeruham "Eitan" Livni (; 1 April 1919 – 27 December 1991) was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician, father of Israeli politician Tzipi Livni. Livni was born in Grodno, Poland (now in Belarus) on 1 April 1919 to Yitzhak and Dvora. His family moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1925 and settled in Tel Aviv. He went to High School and Trade School in Tel Aviv, and in 1938, he joined the Betar movement at Zikhron Ya'akov, where he was assigned to agricultural work and guard duty. Soon after, he joined the Irgun, and a year