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
Tzipi Livni Knesset. On 12 November 2005, she spoke at the official annual commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. In 2004, she received the "Abirat Ha-Shilton" ("Quality of Governance") award. On 20 November 2005, Livni, a member of Likud's moderate wing, formed the Kadima party with Sharon and Ehud Olmert. Ahead of the 28 March elections, Livni was appointed to be the new Foreign Minister, while continuing to serve as Justice Minister, as a result of the mass resignation of Likud Party members from the government. In the selection of candidates for the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was awarded the number three