| Kadima (Hebrew: קדימה, lit. 'Forward') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians.With Ehud Olmert as party chairman following Sharon's stroke, it became the largest party in the Knesset after the 2006 elections, winning 29 of the 120 seats, and led a coalition government. Although Kadima also won the most seats in the 2009 elections under Tzipi Livni's leadership, it became an opposition party for the first time after a Likud-led government was formed. Livni was defeated in the 2012 leadership election, losing out to the more conservative Shaul Mofaz. Following Livni's defeat, the party's progressive wing broke away at the end of 2012, to form a new centre-left party, Hatnua, which Livni led from the outset. In the 2013 elections, Kadima became the smallest party in the Knesset, winning only 2 seats and barely passing the electoral threshold. It did not contest the 2015 elections. |
