Kadima their supporters from doing so. Neither Labor nor Meretz, who were initially expected to be Kadima's natural allies, recommended Livni as prime minister to Peres, reportedly due to Livni's courting of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party. Shimon Peres told Ynet in 2006 that "there is no difference" between Kadima and Labor, and suggested that the two groups unite. He added that neither he nor Kadima founder Ariel Sharon liked the economic policy of Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. The "Haaretz" diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn suggested in November 2009, that Kadima does not have any ideological differences with the Labor Party that
Eti Livni with most of the party's MKs, she defected to the Secular Faction (which later became Hetz) shortly before the 2006 elections following disagreements over the results of Shinui's primary results. She was placed sixth on the Hetz list for the elections, but lost her seat when the party failed to cross the electoral threshold. In 2008 it was announced that Livni would run for a spot on the Kadima list for the 2009 elections. Ultimately she was placed 51st on the party's list, failing to win a seat. Eti Livni Eti Livni (, born 1 June 1948) is a former