Speaking at Kadima party pre-Passover event, newly-elected leader says Jews enslaved as they were in Egypt.
By LAHAV HARKOVShaul Mofaz smiling at Knesset_370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The people of Israel will not be slaves in their own land as they were in Egypt, Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz said at the party’s pre-Passover event.“We will not let this alienated government continue to be a burden on the people of Israel,” Mofaz announced to a packed auditorium in Ramat Gan.The new opposition leader accused the current government of committing the “cardinal sin of arrogance,” saying its ministers were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and cannot understand the problems of social protesters.Mofaz said Kadima is a party of leaders who do not “live in expensive towers or mansions in Caesarea,” referring to the homes of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.“We are modest people who worked our way up from the bottom. We are the salt of the earth,” Mofaz emphasized.The Kadima leader repeated numerous times that the party is now both united and happy, and by working together, its members and MKs will bring Kadima to lead the next government.“The Likud is looking at us and getting very nervous,” he quipped.Mofaz raised eyebrows in the crowd by saying “together with MK Tzipi Livni, we will bring down Netanyahu.”Livni’s spokesman, however, said that the recently-deposed Kadima leader had yet to announce her next step.Mofaz made sure to show appreciation for the many different camps in Kadima, beginning with Livni supporters, whom he said he loves.
He quoted the Torah multiple times in his speech – a possible nod towards the many kippot in the crowd.When criticizing the government’s policies, saying they do not help the poor, Mofaz asked an Arab supporter in the crowd: “Is that the way it is in your village, Ibrahim?”He also mentioned the farmers in the room, saying that Netanyahu’s policies do not help agricultural workers, but that Kadima is planting a seed and will harvest its fruits come election time.A singer, who took the stage at the event before Mofaz spoke, performed musical numbers that reached out to different groups within Kadima. The selection included songs about peace, religious tunes, and a number from the popular musical Casablan to highlight Mofaz’s Middle Eastern background.
