(Ari Shavit-Haaretz).....In the three years of its existence, Kadima has failed and failed and failed. It promised to evacuate about 70,000 settlers by 2010, and has not evacuated a single settler. It promised a smashing victory in the Second Lebanon War, and endured a stinging defeat. It made a vow in the name of clean politics, and implemented dirty politics. It trampled the very rule of law it had declared its loyalty to. It demonstrated amateur economic management despite boasting it would do the opposite. Instead of turning Israel into a progressive and high-quality country, it turned it into a country whose national leadership is unsuccessful and corrupt.
And, nevertheless, the Israeli majority still has difficulty abandoning the promise of Ahrayut Leumit. It still wants what it wanted when it supported Sharon and the big bang. Many people are still nostalgic about party chair Tzipi Livni and are waiting for the promise of Kadima to overcome the disappointment that Kadima has become. A substantial percentage of the Israeli public is willing to forgive the party of Olmert for the Olmert years, as long as it offers a real proposal for the post-Olmert era.
However, the proposal is slow in coming. As of now, Kadima's campaign is hollow. The centrist party is not succeeding in making a genuine statement to the nation. It has not confronted its failures over the past three years and it has not indicated a clear path for the next three. Even the strange primaries held yesterday strengthen the feeling that there is almost no connection between the national responsibility that Kadima promised and the national lawlessness that it implemented.
