Kadima that the minimum wage, and pension and health benefits, be raised in Israel. At the time, Labor favored a negotiated land agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Kadima had so far refused to speak to any Palestinian leader since the Hamas election and has spoken openly of taking unilateral steps in the West Bank, which the Palestinians oppose. Since then, however, Kadima has directly negotiated with the Palestinian Authority. Following the 2009 elections, Kadima led the opposition in the Knesset. During the elections, Kadima successfully attracted left-of-center voters, to the dismay of Labor and Meretz leaders, who discouraged
Tzipi Livni party members to support a Druze candidate instead because he thought it important for Likud to have Arab representation. Livni served in the IDF, gaining rank of lieutenant. Livni began studying law at Bar-Ilan University in 1979, but suspended her law studies when she joined the Mossad in 1980. She served in the Mossad from 1980 to 1984, between the ages of 22 and 26. According to an interview in "Yedioth Ahronoth" described in "The Sunday Times", she served in the elite unit responsible for Operation Wrath of God. She resigned from the Mossad in August 1983 to marry and