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
2008 Kadima leadership election 2008 Kadima leadership election An election for the leadership of Kadima was held on 17 September 2008 as a concession to Kadima's coalition partner, Labour, which had threatened to bring down the government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert didn't stand aside following police investigations into alleged corruption during his terms as minister and as mayor of Jerusalem. As Kadima remained the largest party in the Knesset and the coalition, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the designated new leader after balloting, had the chance to form a government without a need for elections. The two front-runners throughout the campaign consistently remained Mofaz