MK Shaul Mofaz easily beat Kadima chair MK Tzipi Livni in yesterday's primaries and he will become the party's fourth leader. After votes had been counted at 197 ballot stations, Mofaz had 64% of votes (23,987) and Livni had 36% (14,000 votes).
Following the resounding defeat, Livni phoned Mofaz to congratulate him on his victory. Immediately afterwards she gathered her workers together at her campaign headquarters and told them, "You are the beautiful face of Israel and I have come here because of you. I am grateful to each and every one of you for embracing me with faith, frankness and friendship. I believe that the country deserves leadership worthy of you. We have seen the elections and the results."
After the results became clear, Mofaz came to the party offices in Petah Tikva to make his victory speech. He said, "I am most moved tonight. If there is one thing that I want to proclaim tonight it is that Kadima has won. I love each and every one of you for our joint work and unreserved support and the work we will do together in the future. I will never forget what we have been through together. We are a winning team."
In his speech, Mofaz promised to unify the party ranks and said to Livni, "Tzipi your place is with us. From tonight we move forward together. From today this is the party of a team, of all of us that works together and where the party is more important than the individual. From today we are the alternative to government in Israel."
Mofaz added, "I declare that it is my intention to lead Israel to a new social agenda. Firstly we will change the government in Israel. Together we will prepare a new social agenda. This is a campaign that we must win and only together will we win. We will change the equation and bring back hope to Israel."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 28, 2012
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