The eve of the March 2015 Israeli elections brought the end of the Kadima Party. The polls had predicted the party's disappearance from the political map, and its chairman, Shaul Mofaz, decided not to run. Although the public’s disappointment with the party, which was created in a political explosion in November 2005, was clear, a new poll surprisingly indicates that the Israeli public's desire for a centrist party like Kadima is still alive and kicking. In fact, it would appear to have a rather significant constituency.
To mark the decade since the founding of Kadima, the Midgam Institute together with iPanel conducted a poll for the Israel TV Channel 2 program “Meet the Media.” According to the survey, the results of which were presented on the Nov. 29 edition of “Meet the Media,” 35% of respondents said they support the creation of a center party like Kadima. The data were surprising, not just because the public had no interest in Kadima less than a year ago, but also because the poll was conducted during the ongoing, serious wave of terrorism, which would typically strengthen the right. Instead, the poll revealed that about a third of the public essentially backs the reestablishment of a center party that advanced the idea of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Because of Kadima’s disappointing end, the party tends to be treated, unjustly, as having been a failure. The public’s support for a “new Kadima” proves that the idea on which it was founded had legitimacy and remains relevant today.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon founded Kadima in November 2005, a few months after the disengagement from Gaza. Sharon had come to the conclusion that he couldn't carry out his agenda as prime minister while in Likud. These were the days of a rebellion against Sharon in Likud, which made it difficult for him to function in the party and did not align with his high degree of popularity among the general public. Sharon reached his decision after long months of deliberation and consultation, but from the moment the die was cast, Israeli politics changed forever.
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