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
Yoel Hasson 18th Knesset, Hasson was elected 8th place in the Kadima primary list, then led by Tzipi Livni, holding 28 seats and being the largest opposition party to the Likud. He served as chairman of the State Control Committee until 2011. During his lead, the committee dealt with the Carmel fire Disaster, a deadly forest fire in 2010, and initiated a broad investigation on this issue by the State Comptroller. During that year he also founded the parliamentary lobby for the two-state solution. Shortly before the 2013 elections, Hasson and Tzipi Livni left Kadima and established the Hatnuah Party. Towards the