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Kadima

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National Responsibility (in Hebrew: אחריות לאומית, Aharāyūt Le'ūmīt) is a new Israeli political party with centrist aspirations. It was formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after he formally left the rightist Likud party on November 21 2005.

Naming the party

The name "National Responsibility" (Aharāyūt Le'ūmīt) emerged within the first days of the split, apparently as a working title proposed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Shortly thereafter, Kadima (in Hebrew: קדימה, Qādīmāh) which means "Forward" or "Onward" was proposed and served as an interim name, although the common name was brought back to "National Responsibility" a couple of days later. Haaretz noted that:

"...National Responsibility - will probably become permanent. The name was proposed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and got the nod from advertising executive Reuven Adler. Now it awaits Sharon's approval...Kadima (forward) and 'The Israeli Party' were also considered, but were rejected after they were tested on focus groups. Yesterday, the moniker 'National Responsibility,' which began to take off in the media, seemed to Sharon's people the most suitable, despite being cumbersome...during the plenum debate over going to early elections, Eitan called out to Bar-On: 'Kadima to the Ranch,' taunting him to go 'forward' to Sharon's Sycamore Ranch." (Haaretz)

Split from Likud

A number of complex factors contributed to Ariel Sharon's split from the Likud. After the official split from the party, Sharon claimed it was a decision made on a single night's thought[1], which critics claim is doubtful given his documented role as a political maverick and a builder of new governing coalitions in modern Israel.

Background to the split

Sharon is known for his often complex coalition political party building in the politics of Israel. Sharon began his political career as a young left-leaning Israel Defense Forces protege of David Ben-Gurion. Sharon was once a leader of the leftist Shlomtzion Party. He then moved to the center-right and began to build up the power of the right-leaning Likud party which became the main governing party of Israel in 1977.

He was the chief political architect of the Likud, and began planning for it in the days following the 1967 Six-Day War and when he emerged as an Israeli war hero in aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He added his strong personal prestige to give the Likud an immense political boost and finally helped it come to power under Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1913-1992) in 1977. Sharon created the Likud as an amalgam (Likud means "consolidation") of some of Israel's older liberal parties and the larger Herut party, together known as Gahal. Sharon had led the Likud from 1999, becoming prime minister in 2001.

Sharon formed another coalition when he persuaded Labour to align with the Likud in December 2004 to jointly form a unity government in order to implement Israel's disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip, without concern for the political backlash from the more extreme right-wing parties that had previously been Sharon's strongest supporter base.

Internal opposition within the Likud

In 2005, he faced increased right-wing opposition to his unilateral disengagement plan and rivalry from Benjamin Netanyahu, even as his popularity grew among the Israeli populace at large. Sharon had benefited politically after his predecessor Ehud Barak failed to reach "Final Status" agreements with the Palestinians at the Taba summit in January 2001 which had added to many Israelis' sense of frustration since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. The general disillusionment with the Israeli center-left's policies, lead towards a general rightward political shift, which Sharon and the Likud capitalised upon.

Sharon officially became prime minister in March of 2001, having beating labour's Barak by a large margin. Sharon won again in 2003 when he was re-elected as prime minister by a landslide victory, beating Labour's politically dovish Amram Mitzna.

When Sharon had seriously begun veering left politically, abandoning his old right-wing allies, politicians in the right-wing spectrum of the Likud leadership became more vocal in opposing a number of his policies and handing him defeats in Knesset votes. As a sign of the continuous acrimony, they also refused to confirm his nominations of his closest allies to ministerial positions in 2005. When Netanyahu resigned on August 7 2005 as the finance minister, Sharon could not win approval from his own party for his key ally Ehud Olmert to that position, which was a source of frustration and personal humiliation to him.

Sharon's objective in establishing National Responsibility, not bound to the Likud's restrictiveness on his policies, is directed towards the goal of winning a third term as prime minister in 2006.

The resignation of Labour ministers

The final stroke was the unexpected ousting of Sharon's ally Shimon Peres, as leader of the Labour party by the election of left-wing Histadrut union leader Amir Peretz in an internal Labor party ballot on November 8 2005.

Amir Peretz demanded that all Labor party ministers who served with Sharon and the Likud resign from the unity government and called for dissolution of the 16th Knesset and for new elections in early March 2006, overriding the initial electoral date set for November of 2006.

When all the labour ministers had resigned, Sharon lost his "safety net" of supporters from Labour for the implementation of his political agenda, which includes continuing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for "permanent borders" and a hoped-for final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Further developments

As the former interim name Kadima implies, Sharon claims he would like to "move ahead". The right-wing within the Likud had frustrated him and refused to endorse any new concessions to the Palestinians without more in return from them. Some had even sought his ouster from the Likud, citing amongst other reasons, his son Omri Sharon's guilty plea on November 14 2005 to charges of obtaining illegal financing for Sharon's last election campaigns.

Sharon quickly obtained the official support of more than the needed 14 Likud Knesset members to join him (marking over one-third of the Likud's 40 Knesset members) to qualify for financial and constitutional benefits that are given to a new faction.

Sharon will continue to serve as prime minister and has the ability to replace ministers to fill vacancies left empty by the departed Labour members. On November 22 2005, Sharon obtained the agreement of President Moshe Katsav and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz for new elections to be held on March 28, 2006.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, public opinion polls suggest that if voting were held now, Sharon would emerge the top candidate, which would give him a chance for his third term as prime minister.

Political objectives and policy platforms

Early statements from the Sharon camp reported by the Israeli media claimed that they were setting up a truly "centrist" and "liberal" party. It would appear that Sharon hopes to attract members of the Knesset from other parties and well-known politicians regardless of their prior beliefs provided they accept Sharon's leadership and are willing to implement a "moderate" political agenda. It is known that Sharon believes strongly in the Road map for peace and has a close alliance with US President George W. Bush, which would surely be a pillar of the new party's foreign policy.

On the domestic front, Sharon has shown a tendency to agree with his past political partner, the pro-secular and outspokenly anti-religious Shinui party (his allies in the 2003 government), which seeks to promote a secular civil agenda as opposed to the strong influence of Israel's Orthodox and Haredi parties. The Haredi parties joined Sharon's last coalition at the same time as the Labour party, after Shinui had left Sharon's original governing coalition. In the past, Shinui has also called itself a "centrist" party because it rejects both Labor's socialism and the Likud's skepticism about the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Whether Sharon's new party sees its own centrist party mission as enabling it to be in an alignment with Shinui (Sharon has in the past agreed with its social agenda) or with the Orthodox parties (the Haredi parties mostly agree with Sharon's foreign policy) remains to be seen.

One ex-Shas party member has joined Ahrayut Leumit and it is reported that several prominent Labor party members will add to the party's growing numbers in the Knesset.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni reportedly told Israel Army Radio that the party intends to help foster the desire for a seperate Palestinian state[2], a move which was applauded by leftist Yossi Beilin[3]. However, it would be unwise to imagine that Sharon has now adopted the political platforms of the left-wing parties. Indeed, Meretz leader Yossi Sarid indicated his disgust with the corruption allegations surrounding Sharon, and called upon him to resign.

Sharon is adamantly opposed to the one state solution and is one of the prime architects pushing for the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier that has been criticized by left-wing Israeli politicians, but is a conerstone of Sharon's determination to establish Israel's "final" borders, which he sees himself as uniquely suited to do in the so-called "Final Status" negotiations.

In a November 22 2005 press conference, Sharon also mentioned that he favors withdrawing from untenable Israeli settlements in the West Bank, although he declined to give an actual timeline or specifics for the proposed action. [4]

Notable supporters

Refused to join


See also

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