Politics of Israel Gil in a 67-seat coalition. In November 2006, Yisrael Beiteinu (11 seats) also joined the government, but departed from the coalition in January 2008. Faced with internal opposition due to mounting corruption charges, Olmert announced that he would not seek reelection in the next elections held in February 2009. Tzipi Livni won the September 2008 Kadima leadership elections, but failed to form a new coalition government. On 31 March 2009 the Knesset approved the appointment of Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister, despite Kadima having won slightly more votes than Netanyahu's Likud. Netanyahu's government took office the following day, 1 April
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